The Independent National
Electoral Commission (INEC) says there is no more room for political
campaign or collection of the Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) in spite of
the postponement of elections dates by one week.
The Chairman of INEC, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, made the disclosure while fielding questions at the commissions meeting with stakeholders, on Saturday in Abuja.
Yakubu said that the deadline for the
collection of PVCs and elections campaign by political parties according
to election timetable has passed.
Campaign closed on Thursday, Feb. 14, and for the period that remain campaign remained closed.
All the other process that remain in
the main timetable remain closed including the collection of PVC, except
the conduct of the elections, he said.
On why the commission did not consult party
leaders before adjusting the dates of the elections, Yakubu said that it
was due to the urgency and that Section 36 of the Electoral Act
empowered the commission to do so.
We have to take a decision and communicate
because polls were suppose to open at 8a.m. and we took the decision at
2a.m, he said.
Yakubu while answering question on why the
commission waited till about 3a.m on Saturday before postponing the
elections, said that up till 2a.m the commission was still hopeful that
elections would hold as scheduled.
On whether the commission has enough fund
should the elections be postponed again, Yakubu said that INEC was not
complaining, adding that the commission do not intend to postpone any of
the elections again.
On request that INEC should compensate political parties for the change in dates, Yakubu said that INEC did not finance parties.
The National Chairman of the All Progressives
Congress (APC), Mr Adams Oshiomole, expressed displeasure that INEC
waited till last few hour before announcing the postponement to
Nigerians, demanding the apology of Yakubu to Nigerians and political
parties.
He said the postponement entailed huge loss to
political parties who had no public fund to fall on like INEC, saying if
the postponement was done on time, loss and inconveniences to political
parties would have been avoided.
Serious inconveniences has been caused, Nigerians have been subjected to rude shock and I fell extremely cold.
I think we should be honest. I am shocked, disappointed and disgusted.
The real question I will insist, Mr Chairman
by all due respect, is to tell us why by Wednesday you did not announce
the postponement, since you acknowledged that the weather was bad.
You should have taken all these into account
and announced this postponement at least 48 hours before the elections
time, so that political parties dont have to mobilise resources across
176,000 Polling units.
Observer will stay where they were and a lot of inconveniences would have been saved, Oshiomole said.
Representing the Peoples Democratic Party
(PDP), Mr Osita Chidoka, former Aviation Minister and Chairman, Strategy
Committee of the PDP Presidential Campaign Council, commended decision
of the commission for not allowing the experienced challenges to lead to
staggered elections.
Chidoka, requested for INEC assurance that
Activate Technologies Limited, one of the companies producing the
Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs), would not be involved in the retrieval and
reconfiguration of card readers to be used for the rescheduled
elections.
He said that available information was that
the Managing Director of of the company was a senatorial candidate of
APC in Niger State.
He also requested that the commission should
allow independent verification that sensitive materials to be retrieved
to the CBN had not been opened or tampered with.
The National Chairman, Progressive Peoples
Alliance (PPA), Chief Peter Ameh, said initially he was angered that
INEC did not consult political parties like it was being done before
change of election date in the past.
Ameh, who is also the National Chairman of the
Inter-Party Advisory Committee (IPAC), however, said that with the
explanation by INEC Chairman, it was clear that the decision was taken
in the interest of the nation.
The News Agency of Nigeria(NAN) reports that
INEC had shifted the Presidential and National Assembly elections from
Feb. 16 to Feb. 23 and the Governorship and State House of Assembly
elections from March 2 to March 9.