From Victor Akinkuolie, Ado-Ekitii
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The Buhari/ Osinbajo Campaign Council in Ekiti State has described the postponement of the Presidential and National Assembly elections scheduled for last Saturday as a sign that the country’s electoral system needs serious attention.
The Director General of the Council, Dr Olusegun Osinkolu, lamented that it was disappointing for the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to have taken such a serious decision few hours to elections, saying such ought to have taken place early enough.
Osinkolu, dismissed the issue of logistics problem as claimed by the INEC Chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, while announcing the postponement of the election.
Osinkolu, who reacted to the INEC’s decision in Ado Ekiti on Saturday,added that the All Progressives Congress (APC) would only be appeased if the commission conducts free, fair and credible elections that would meet up with international best practices next Saturday.
He said it was traumatizing for the INEC to have postponed elections when all the contending forces and the Nigerian voters had already prepared themselves for the task, saying such could create apathy among Nigerians.
“Though, we feel highly disappointed by this action, but we will take it with calmness if INEC goes ahead and conduct credible polls on Saturday.
“Many people travelled from Lagos and other parts of the country to Ekiti to vote in this election. How feasible is their participation in the rescheduled elections if they decide to return to their bases.
“We even expected that if INEC would shift the poll at all based on logistics problem it cited, we thought it won’t be more than 24 to 48 hours, why one week?”, he queried.
