12th February, 2015
Damilare Okunola
The Lagos State Chapter of the National Association of Nigerian Students, NANS, has declared its displeasure over the postponement of this month’s general elections.
The students’ association which took to the streets of Lagos, Monday, 9 February, 2015 to protest the decision of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, to shift the elections to March and April, further stated that they would conduct their mock election to get their president.
The students in their hundreds stormed the office of the Lagos State Governor in Alausa, Ikeja to express their minds and said that they will hold a mock election on Saturday, 14 February, 2015 and make the result of the election public.
Yakub Eleto, the immediate past leader of the Lagos chapter of the association, told our correspondent that “we the Association of Nigerian Students are against the postponement of the elections. This is a move to make a mockery of our democracy and heat up the polity. We will not accept any of that.
“Therefore, we are saying a blatant No to election postponement and that is why we have staged a peaceful protest here today, to tell our Governor that we are not in support of the election postponement.
“As a matter of fact, we are going to hold a mock election on Saturday, 14 February and the winner of the election shall be made public.
“We want the whole world to know that Nigerian students are in no way supportive of election delay.”
The radical union leader, who led the protest, however, encouraged his colleagues to go all out and ensure they get their Permanent Voter’s Cards, PVCs with which they will vote their desired candidates.
“All Nigerian students should ensure they get their PVCs and come out en masse to vote on election day. They cannot disenfranchise us no matter how they try. INEC has been a huge disappointment with the shift of date,” he noted.
No political office holder addressed the students during the peaceful protest, but they were asked to be calm by the police officers around.