Edo State will elect a
new governor on September 28 after the Independent National Electoral
Commission (INEC) yesterday postponed the election by 18 days.
On Wednesday, September
7, 2016, the Directorate of State Services (DSS) and the Nigeria Police Force
advised the agency to shift the poll because of an untoward security situation.
At a joint news conference, the security agencies said it would be impossible
for the election to hold on schedule.
The INEC, whose top
officials, including Chairman Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, were already in Benin, the State
capital, said it would meet and take a decision based on the advice. The
initial position of the agency yesterday was to go ahead with the election. INEC
National Commissioner in charge of Voter Education and Publicity, Prince
Solomon Soyebi, said the agency was ready and would go ahead.
“We cannot shift the
election on the basis of security report. We have weighed all the parameters
and consequences of postponing the election. This Commission will not mortgage
its independence for the sustenance of democracy.
“We have made 99 percent
preparation for the elections and we have also weighed the political
atmosphere,” Soyebi said.
But he later made a
U-turn to announce a new date after a long deliberation. Reporters were kept
for a long time after the agency called a news conference to break the news of
the shift. Sources said the delay in announcing the new date was to avert a
clash with the coronation of the Crown Prince of Benin Kingdom, Ambassador
Eheneden Erediauwa, as the Oba. The ceremony is slated for September 26.
Soyebi said the
commission’s earlier insistent on holding the election on
Saturday was because there was no official communication from security
agencies.
He said the commission
only received official communication from security agencies at
about 6pm yesterday, drawing attention to the need to postpone
the election in view of threats of terrorist activities in Edo and other
states.
He said: “The
communication indicates that deployment of security personnel country wide to
secure lives and property would over stretch their capacity to at the same time
provide adequate security for the election.
“The commission notes the
request of the security agencies and considering the security implications of
proceeding with the election, the safety of eligible voters, electoral
officials, including ad hoc staff and other stakeholders, has decided
to reschedule the Edo governorship election to Wednesday, 28 September.”
Governor Adams Oshiomhole
welcomed the decision although he would have favoured a week’s postponement. He
cautioned against a new date clashing with the Oba’s coronation.
The governor nevertheless
said the All Progressives Congress (APC) would win because he claimed the PDP
is not popular in the State.
No comments:
Post a Comment