The
plot continued to thicken for a postponement of the elections on Tuesday, when
16 out of the 26 registered political parties endorsed calls for a shift of
dates for the polls slated for February 14 and 28, citing insecurity, issues
with the distribution of permanent voters’ cards (PVCs) and the exodus of
people from the cities to their villages.
Also, five of the 14 presidential candidates signed a statement urging the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to postpone the elections to a more appropriate date.
The
parties are the United Democratic Party (UDP), Citizen Peoples Party (CPP),
Peoples Party of Nigeria (PPN), Action Alliance (AA), Peoples Democratic
Congress (PDC), Allied Party of Nigeria (ACPN), Labour Party (LP), Mega
Progressive People's Party (MPPP), United Party of Nigeria (UPN), Alliance for
Democracy (AD), African Democratic Congress (ADC), Advanced Congress of
Democrats (ACD), Democratic Peoples Party (DPP), New Nigerian Peoples Party
(NNPP), Peoples Party of Nigeria (PPN) and Independent Democrat (ID).
The
five presidential candidates who endorsed the postponement are Godson Okoye
(UDP), Chief Sam Okoye (CPP), Prince C.O Allagoe (PPN), Tunde Anifowose (AA)
and Ganiu Galadima (ACPN).
The
political parties, in a resolution calling for the postponement, said: “Fellow
Nigerians, we the concerned leaders of political parties, in the run up to the
2015 February general election, have observed some dangerous trends, which if
not checked may negatively and adversely affect our democracy.”
The
parties hinged their call for the postponement on security, distribution of
PVCs and people deserting their residences for their villages.
They
also threatened to boycott the elections if their position was not respected.
The
leaders of the 16 parties called on the federal government to take the
necessary steps to provide adequate security for Nigerians to go out and
collect their PVCs in order to be able to exercise their civic and
constitutional duty.
The
parties said INEC should seriously consider shifting the date of elections to
sometime in March or April, which would still not be against the provisions of
Sections 25 and 26 of the Electoral Act.
“We
are not urging INEC to do anything that is unlawful, illegal or
unconstitutional. It is unfortunately becoming clear by the day that most
Nigerians appear not to be ready for election but are ready for violence,” the
parties said.
On
what the shift in date would achieve, the parties said: “This shift in date,
which does not in any way contravene the provisions of Section 25 and 26 of the
Electoral Act will afford INEC enough time to distribute the remaining PVCs so
that at least more than 98 per cent of the registered voters in the country
would have collected their PVCs.
“In
this regard the concerned political leaders should offer to assist the INEC in
all necessary ways to ensure that these PVCs are collected on time for the
rescheduled election.”
One
of the representatives of the political parties said they took the decision
against the position of the chairman of Inter-party Advisory Council (IPAC).
According
to him, the IPAC Chairman, Dr. Tanko Yunusa, had overruled them at the last
meeting with INEC. The party chieftain alleged that because the IPAC chairman
has an alliance with the All Progressives Congress (APC), he insisted that the
elections must hold as scheduled.
Okoye,
who read the statement on behalf of the political parties, also expressed
disappointment over the visit of the US Secretary of State, John Kerry, to only
two presidential candidates and that the presidential debate centred on the APC
presidential candidate, Major-General Muhammadu Buhari and Peoples Democratic
Party (PDP) presidential candidate, President Goodluck Jonathan.
However,
the presidential candidate of the United Progressive Party, Chief Chekwas
Okorie, has condemned the call for the postponement of the elections.
Briefing
journalists in Abuja, Okorie said: “I condemn in the strongest terms the recent
mischievously contrived clamour for the postponement of the 2015 general
election to another date outside the dates and timetable announced by the
Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in February 2014, over twelve
months ago.
“The
reasons given by the proponents of the postponement that a great number of
Nigerians will be disenfranchised having not been given their permanent voters’
cards which will enable them to participate in the election is a contrived
reason and to a large extent pedestrian.
“As
we speak, over 80 per cent of registered voters have received their PVCs,
according to the latest figures released by INEC and this may increase to 90
per cent or above after the close of distribution of PVCs on February 8, 2015,
as planned by INEC.”
Also
kicking against the postponement of the polls, the APC yesterday warned of a
plot by President Goodluck Jonathan and his party, the Peoples Democratic Party
(PDP) to precipitate a constitutional crisis that would forestall the elections
this month and pave the way for an interim government.
This
idea, the APC alleged, would be broached tomorrow by the president at the
Council of State meeting in Abuja, urging the elder statesmen (Nigerian
ex-presidents and heads of state) to live up to their billings.
The
party alleged that some elements in the country were trying to manipulate the
courts and tribunals to achieve the devilish plot.
APC National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, told reporters in Lagos that the agents of darkness may procure “pliant judges” to give outrageous and unpopular judgments at the election tribunals and courts to destabilise the polity.
APC National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, told reporters in Lagos that the agents of darkness may procure “pliant judges” to give outrageous and unpopular judgments at the election tribunals and courts to destabilise the polity.
He
warned that any outrageous and unpopular judgment would trigger massive
violence, which they would cite as an excuse to scuttle the elections and form
an interim government.
Mohammed
said: “At the last count, six cases had been filed by the agents of those
working to scuttle the elections, and we expect more. In one of the cases,
Justice Ademola of the Federal High Court in Abuja on Monday gave the order for
a substituted service in the case instituted by Max Uzoaka against our
candidate, Gen. Muhammadu Buhari.
“The
Jonathan administration and the PDP do not want elections despite their
deceitful statements that they are ready for the polls, and they will stop at
nothing to ensure that the polls do not hold as scheduled, if at all.
“This
is why they have not been asking Nigerians to go and collect their PVCs, even
when the INEC has said the cards for all registered voters are now ready for
collection, putting a lie to the campaign that the cards will not be ready
before the elections.
“That
is why they have refused hordes of foreign journalists visas to come to
Nigeria. The denial of visas to foreign journalists is systemic, aimed at
preventing the international community from seeing or watching the desperate
plots to scuttle the elections.
“An administration that has nothing to hide will not embark on a deliberate move to shut foreign journalists out of what is definitely one of the most important elections in the world this year.”
“An administration that has nothing to hide will not embark on a deliberate move to shut foreign journalists out of what is definitely one of the most important elections in the world this year.”
Mohammed
alleged that apart from manipulating the courts, unpatriotic elements have
resorted to lobbying some members of the Council of State to support their
clamour for election postponement.
He urged the council, which is expected to meet tomorrow, to put the national interest above narrow, partisan considerations by rejecting the calls for postponement.
He urged the council, which is expected to meet tomorrow, to put the national interest above narrow, partisan considerations by rejecting the calls for postponement.
Mohammed
also urged local and foreign observers to take note of the scheming by the
election-postponement campaigners, adding that if they succeed, they would have
no elections to observe.
He
said since the elections are a process and not restricted to the election day,
all the steps leading to the elections are as important as the actual voting.
“We
call on Nigerians to remain vigilant, especially in the days ahead, and to
continue to reject all attempts by anti-democratic forces to cling to or get
power through means that are not democratic.
“We
urge our members and supporters in particular to eschew violence under any
guise, even in the face of the most egregious provocations, so as not to play
into the hands of those working to scuttle the elections.
“If
the Jonathan administration and the PDP are indeed committed to the February 14
and 28 dates for the elections, as they have said, we challenge them to heed
our call for a two-day public holiday so that working class Nigerians who have
yet to collect their PVCs can do so. By the way, APC states will declare two
public holidays for this purpose.
“We
will also like to repeat our appeal to the judiciary to act as a bulwark
against any attempt to truncate our nation’s hard-earned democracy by refusing
to be used to scuttle the elections.
“We
consider it an insult to the judiciary for the advocates of election-shift to
believe they can use their dirty funds to influence the course of justice. We
believe the judiciary will not take this bait.
“We
will not relent in speaking out against ongoing efforts to scuttle the
elections. The APC is ready for the elections as scheduled. The PDP and the
Jonathan administration should stop their scheming and get themselves ready for
the elections too. Nigerians have seen through them and have rejected their
evil plots.
“The
elections dates of February 14 and 28 are sacrosanct,” he said.
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