The ruling All Progressives Congress, APC has remained silent as the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC has postponed the Saturday, February 16 Presidential and National Assembly elections.
INEC as early as 3am announced its decision to postpone the election after an emergency meeting that lasted several hours.
Mahmood Yakubu, INEC Chairman while announcing this decision to journalists at the Commission’s headquarters Abuja said, “The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) met on Friday, 15’h February 2019 and reviewed its preparations for the 2019 General Elections scheduled for Saturday, 16h February 2019 and Saturday, 2nd March 2019.
“Following a careful review of the implementation of its logistics and operational plan and the determination to conduct free, fair and credible elections, the Commission came to the conclusion that proceeding with the elections as scheduled is no longer feasible.
“Consequently, the Commission has decided to reschedule the Presidential and National Assembly Elections to Saturday, 23rd February 2019. Furthermore, the Governorship, State House of Assembly and Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Area Council Elections is rescheduled to Saturday 9th March 2019. This will afford the Commission the opportunity to address identified challenges in order to maintain the quality of our elections.
“This was a difficult decision for the Commission to take, but necessary for the successful delivery of the elections and the consolidation of our democracy. The Commission will meet key stakeholders to update them on this development at 2pm on Saturday, 16th February 2019 at the Abuja
International Conference Centre”.
While the main opposition Peoples Democratic Party, PDP swiftly reacted to the postponement by rejecting it and calling on the INEC Chairman to resign, APC being accused of masterminding act did not despite repeated inquiries on its official WhatsApp platform.
James Kwen
