Nigerians React To Postponement Of Elections

More reactions have trailed the postponement of the National Assembly and other elections with the ruling People’ Democratic Party (PDP) expressing satisfaction over the new dates fixed by Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

Dr. Muhammed Bello, PDP Acting National Chairman, told newsmen yesterday in Abuja that the postponement would enable INEC to perfect its arrangements in terms of logistics.

“We are confident that INEC will perfect its logistical arrangement and give us credible elections,” he said.

Bello said the party would join other political parties in supporting INEC, by adhering to the new timetable for the purpose of conducting free and fair elections.

“So we want to give them every opportunity. If they say they are not ready now, we are willing to wait for them to get ready because we want a free and credible election,” he said.

In his reaction, Dr. Tony Momoh, National Chairman, Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) said the party accepted the reasons given by INEC for postponing the National Assembly elections. “The logistics are just not there, the logos of some political parties are missing, many names are missing from the voters’ register and there are shortages of other materials,” Momoh said.

He said that the problems could not be addressed within 24 hours and that INEC needed time to do so.

Also reacting, Alhaji Lateef Adegbite, Secretary General, Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (NSCIA), urged Nigerians to accept INEC’s decision to shift the elections forward, in good faith.

He said that only God was infallible, adding that he sympathised with Prof. Attahiru Jega, the INEC chairman.

Adegbite, however, said that INEC must be cautioned against delay in taking decision, “Since some delicate election materials are not produced in Nigeria and have to be imported.”

“Once these materials do not arrive at least three days before the scheduled election, the inevitable decision to postpone the election must be taken forthwith, and an announcement duly made there and then.

“It was not right to have waited till voting had actually commenced in many parts of the country before canceling the exercise.

“We applaud the generality of Nigerians for their understanding and patience,” he said.

Adegbite, however, called on every registered voter to file out to vote on all the days of the rescheduled elections.

In his reaction, Most Rev. John Onaiyekan, Archbishop, Catholic Archdiocese of Abuja, advised INEC to find solutions to the complications surrounding the cancellation of the National Assembly elections.

Onaiyekan, in an interview with News Agency Nigeria (NAN) yesterday said he was not happy that election materials and other important items were still being printed abroad.

He said the postponement of the National Assembly elections was a big disappointment to the nation.

“Americans don’t bring their electoral materials to Nigeria for printing and I have not heard that Britons take theirs to Ghana.

“So, this whole idea of going abroad to print these things at high cost does not make sense to me,” he said.

Onaiyekan said he did not agree with the claim that it would not be safe to print the materials in Nigeria.

He said that the same people who would compromise the safety of the materials printed in Nigeria were also the ones who would be involved in the overseas negotiations.

Onaiyekan said it was a good thing that INEC Chairman Attahiru Jega had accepted blame for what happened, and advised the commission to be more careful to ensure success in next Saturday’s elections.

In its own reaction, the Freedom Party of Nigeria (FPN) called on the Federal Government to institute an independent probe into the contracts awarded by INEC.

Chief Frank Ohwofa, National Chairman of the party, made the call while reacting to the rescheduling of the April general elections, in an interview with NAN on Sunday in Abuja.

He said the contractors responsible for printing the election materials should also be probed for allegedly breaching the contract terms and embarrassing the country.

Ohwofa decried the huge economic loss incurred by the postponement, saying that the country’s land borders were closed and many people suspended their businesses for the sake of the postponed elections.

He, however, called on Nigerians to come out en mass to vote for candidates of their choice on the new dates for the elections.