President Obama, APC reject Poll Shift in Nigeria , But PDP Welcomes Shift , says in interest of democracy

The United States government has expressed ‘deep’ disappointment by the decision to postpone Nigeria’s presidential election, which had been scheduled for February 14.

A statement by U.S. Secretary of State, John Kerry, shortly after the announcement of the poll shift by the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, Attahiru Jega, on Saturday, said political interference with INEC is unacceptable.
Mr. Jega, while announcing the shift, said INEC’s decision follows a letter from security agencies informing the commission that security cannot be guaranteed if the elections go ahead as scheduled.
He said the Nigerian military is currently engaged in operations against Boko Haram insurgents in the north-eastern part of the country.
“Last Wednesday…the office of the National Security Adviser (NSA) wrote a letter to the Commission, drawing attention to recent developments in four Northeast states of Borno, Yobe, Adamawa and Gombe currently experiencing the challenge of insurgency.
“The letter stated that security could not be guaranteed during the proposed period in February for the general elections,” Mr. Jega said.
But the U.S. government in its reaction said “it is critical that the government not use security concerns as a pretext for impeding the democratic process”.
Mr. Jega had also on Saturday announced new dates of March 28 and April 11 for national and state elections.
The US said the international community would be watching closely as the Nigerian government prepares for elections on the newly scheduled dates.
“The United States underscores the importance of ensuring that there are no further delays.
“As I reaffirmed when I visited Lagos last month, we support a free, transparent, and credible electoral process in Nigeria and renew our calls on all candidates, their supporters, and Nigerian citizens to maintain calm and reject election-related violence,” Mr. Kerry said.

A statement by the National Chairman of APC , John E.K Odigie-Oyegun , CON stated thus’’ , All Progressives Congress, APC, has just heard over the news media that The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has decided to postpone the elections by six weeks on the strength of a letter by the security chiefs that they cannot provide security for the elections nationwide because of the commitment of its resources to fight insurgency in the north eastern part of the country.
This is clearly a major setback for Nigerian democracy, and our Party is meeting in emergency session to study its implications and will inform Nigerians of its decisions in the next few days.
In the meantime, though what has happened is highly provocative, I strongly appeal to all Nigerians to remain calm and desist from violence and any activity which will compound this unfortunate development. We must not fall into this obvious trap. Change we must. They can only delay it; No one can stop it.
‘’I want to assure all Nigerians that the All Progressives Congress will not abandon its commitment to change and will sustain the struggle to establish a new Nigeria,’’ APC National Chairman concluded.
However , the Peoples Democratic Party Presidential Campaign Organisation (PDPPCO) has welcomed the postponement of elections as announced by the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, on Saturday.
“It is in the best interest of deepening democracy and in the national interest,” the party said in a statement.
The Director of Media and Publicity of the PDPPCO, Femi Fani-Kayode, stated in a response to the poll shift announcement that INEC ”must be commended for showing the courage to shift the elections after acknowledging the fact that its state of preparedness was not 100 per cent.”
According to Mr. Fani-Kayode, “Since this decision has been taken in the interest of deepening democracy and in national interest, we accept it in good faith and we commend INEC’s courage and obvious commitment to ensuring a free and fair election.
“With this decision, INEC has allayed the fears of many of our citizens that they may not have had the opportunity to vote for the candidates and parties of their choice on Election Day.
“INEC has, by the decision, ensured that no one will be disenfranchised and has helped to guarantee the safety and security of every single one of our citizens during the course of the elections.
“We are constrained to take this opportunity to wholeheartedly condemn the opposition APC for its paranoid delusions and its far-fetched and childish conspiracy theories when it comes to the issue of poll shift.
“By insisting that the elections should be conducted on February 14th the opposition was not only dangerously flirting with chaos but was also putting our country firmly on the path of confrontation, division, injustice, disaster and destruction.
“This is especially so, given the fact that no less than 34 percent of eligible voters have not been able to access their Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) up till today- just seven days before the original date of the election. A situation where such a large percentage of our people would have been disenfranchised is unacceptable and the fact that the APC was insensitive to that fact speaks volumes.
“We are aware that INEC is having numerous logistical problems and numerous internal challenges and we believe that the poll shift will afford them the badly-needed time to tackle and resolve those problems and challenges before we arrive at the new dates that have been fixed for the elections.
“We believe that INEC must have drawn a useful guide from available security reports from the North-eastern zone where, despite the very serious challenges that our people are facing there from Boko Haram, we believe that elections must hold. We must insist on this in order to ensure that no parts of the country lose their right to freely, safely and peacefully participate in the coming elections and to vote for the candidates of their choice.
“It is against the backdrop of these developments that we commend INEC for finding the courage to do the right thing. In the same breath, we condemn the opposition APC leaders and members who are set to unleash confusion, mendacity and despondency everywhere and who are blaming everyone except themselves for the situation in which we have found ourselves.
“It is a glaring testimony to their irresponsible and reckless disposition that they continue to insist on having an election on a date that the institution that is constitutionally charged to conduct that election has said that it would be impossible to go ahead under the present circumstances.
“The shift of date is a welcome development. It is solely the decision of INEC. The decision is not ours but we commend them (INEC) for showing courage by owning up to the fact that they are not ready to go ahead on February 14th. The shift will help INEC to organise themselves properly, to put their house in order and to put in place all the necessary arrangements for the polls. The shift will also enable the nation’s security agencies to do what they have to in order to secure the north-eastern zone and ensure that elections can hold there.
“In conclusion, we wish to encourage our supporters and we urge them to remain calm and to be patient. Our party is strong; our candidate is confident; our cause is just; our God is mighty and our victory is assured. No matter what happens and no matter how long it takes, we shall prevail. God bless Nigeria.”

The Chairman of the Independent National Elec­toral Commis­sion (INEC), Prof At­tahiru Jega, had yesterday gave security reason for the postponement of the February 14 and 28 elections to March 28 and April 11 for the Presidential/National Assembly and Gover­norship/State Assem­bly elections respec­tively.
 Prof Attahiru Jega said last night “There are quite a number of issues in the conduct of elections, the most critical of which is security matter which is not under the control of INEC.”
Jega said the commission arrived at the decision after wide consultations with all the relevant stakeholders, including political parties, security chiefs, civil society organizations, the media, among others.
Although Prof Jega who addressed the media last night said that INEC was ready with all election matters under its control, it expressed reser­vations that there were other variables not directly under its control and was there­fore compelled to take the security advisory from the National Security Adviser and the Service Chiefs into consideration in adjusting the timetable for the polls. “INEC has cordial relations with all the security agen­cies, and we consider it im­perative not to put our staff (ad hoc and regular staff) at risk if there are no secu­rity provisions for them”, he said.
He, however, advised the security agencies to ensure that security situation in the North East under which the shift was predicated were quickly resolved before the new date. In shifting the polls, he said the decision of INEC was in line with section 26, (1) of the 2010 Electoral Act, as amended.
Answering questions from journalists after his speech, Jega said that there were no cost implications in the adjustment, adding that the electoral body would use the extension period to intensify training of its staff on electoral guidelines and the use of card readers to add value to the process. He further assured the nation that the materials already procured would not waste as they were properly se­cured.
On the allegations of bias levelled against him by Southern leaders under the auspices of Southern Leaders Peoples Assembly (SLPA), he described the accusation as unfounded and vowed not to resign as demanded by the body. He said, “If there are grounds for me to resign I will do that, but if my conscience does not tell me to do that, I will not. I have never shown bias for any section of the country. Rather than do that, I will resign.”
He said but for lack of time, he would have gone to court to compel them to prove their allegation.
Speaking further on the postponement, Jega stressed that it was better to wait un­til normalcy returned to the Northeast so that the elec­tion would be conclusive, in line with constitutional provisions.