Northern Elders warn against Further Postponement of Elections
The Northern Elders Forum (NEF) has warned against further postponement of the country’s general election due to hold on March 28 and April 11.
The spokesman of the forum, Prof Ango Abdullahi, made this known at a news briefing in Bauchi disclosing that the group will not support any further shift of the polls while also urging Nigerians to work towards making the elections credible, free, fair, and transparent.
He also said that the Forum would not support the use of soldiers for election and condemned attempts by the Federal Government to stop the use of the electronic voter cards for the election, saying that it was part of the plot to scuttle the polls.
He said: “The move was evidenced by an alleged suit filed by the Attorney-General of the Federation to stop INEC from using PVCs and card readers.
“Intimidation and harassment of opposition as amply seen in various parts of the country like Rivers, Kano and Lagos States, and several other cases of intimidations targeted against individuals.
“The idea of an unconstitutional Interim National Government is also being vigorously canvassed in order to avoid a smooth transition of governance based on the popular will of the electorate.”
Abdullahi also addressed the previous postponement of the Feb. 14 polls, saying the insecurity excuses given were “flimsy, clumsy, indefensible, and mere smokescreen” as only a fraction of security personnel in the country are currently involved in the war against insurgency in the Northeast.
“Even in countries such as Egypt, Iraq, Syria, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and recently Afghanistan where full wars are raging, elections were held,” he said.
