Reactions Trail Election Postponement in Niger

Reactions Trail Election Postponement in Niger

By Laleye Dipo in Minna

Opinions are varied from different stakeholders on the postponement of the presidential and national assembly election by the Independent National Electoral Commission.

The Peoples Democratic Party described the postponement “as an embarrassment” while the All Progressive Party concluded that that the “whole issue is sad”.

On its part the Campaign for Democracy called for a detailed investigation into the whole matter.

PDP state chairman Alhaji Tanko Beji in a statement described the whole saga as “sad and very regrettable” adding that “this is an unacceptable decision by the INEC which “came a few hours to the conduct of the election which we as a party had prepared for and was set to win.”

“The action of INEC has not only ridiculed the nation in the eyes of the international community but has called to serious question the integrity of the chairman and other members of the commission”.

Tanko Beji therefore asked the chairman of the commission Alhaji Mahmood Yakubu and other members to resign because they have “lost the confidence of Nigerians.”

The state secretary of the APC Alhaji Aminu Liman described the postponement as sad adding that it has also brought to question the much acclaimed integrity of the chairman and members of the Commission.

Niger state coordinator of the Campaign for Democracy Alhaji Abdullahi Jabi regretted the action of INEC but said “now that the election has been postponed INEC should put its house in order to forestall a future occurrence.

“This is not the time to apportion blame, we should all join hands with INEC to ensure it conducts a hitch free election as from Saturday”.

Niger state government in a statement said “The postponement of these elections are unfortunate but going by the INEC Chairman’s statement, the decision to shift the election was necessary for the commission to successfully deliver its mandate of conducting a credible, free election and for the consolidation of our democracy.”

The statement signed for Governor Abubakar Sani Bello by his Media Coordinator, Jide Oritunsin, said “In the light of this, I want to appeal for the understanding of our people. I strongly believe that the electoral body meant well for the country. All we need to do at this crucial period is to join hands together with INEC to ensure that a credible, free and fair election is delivered for the good of our fledging democracy.

“I want to appeal to our people to be patient and be calm. We should not allow any divisive agent within and outside the country to cash on this development to truncate the solid foundation laid since 2015. Let us all go after our daily activities and wait patiently for the new dates announced by INEC for the elections

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