2nd April, 2011
Former Lagos Governor, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu has praised the chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission for his courage in postponing the Federal parliamentary election till Monday.
“He has done what is right in the circumstance. I only hope the President will take control from there by declaring a national holiday on Monday”.
President Goodluck Jonathan also supported the decision of INEC in postponing the election. The News Agency of Nigeria quoted him as saying that the new date will afford INEC enough time to “prepare for better results”.
Former Nigerian leader, General Yakubu asked Nigerians to exercise patience.
To conduct a seamless election, INEC hoped to see in place the same restrictions imposed today by government.
The INEC chairman made the request on Saturday, calling on the political authorities to impose the same level of vehicular and human restrictions on Monday, just like it was done Saturday.
Logistics problems had forced the INEC to postpone the polls, with Professor Jega apologising for the problems encountered in the late delivery of polling materials.
The postponement caused a lot of confusion in polling centers where accreditation had been completed or was ongoing. Problems also arose in some centers where voting had commenced, over what should be done with already cast votes. In Ijebu Ode Odi-Olowo polling centre, a fracas broke out between the INEC officials and the voters who wanted the ballots destroyed.
PMNews reporter in Ijebu-Ode, Abiodun Onafuye said the angry voters destroyed the ballot box and peace was only restored after the intervention of voters.
Elsewhere, reactions about the poll postponement were mixed.
Ondo s tate governor, Dr Olusegun Mimiko expressed disappointment over the cancellation saying that “the situation was an embarrassing developmentâ€.
Mimiko spoke with newsmen in Ondo town while waiting to cast his vote after he and his wife, Olukemi have been accredited at Open Space, opposite Under Mango Tree polling unit in LodasaWard 7 in Ondo West local government area.
According to the Governor, “it is a very embarrassing development, it is very depressing, but what can we do? The Chairman of INEC himself has announced that it has been postponed till Monday. We believe that there won’t be any story to tell on Monday it is very depressing, very unfortunate. A lot of activities of activities and resources have been put into it. We will wait till Monday. There is nothing anybody can do about that.
Governor Mimiko advised INEC to avoid disappointing Nigerians again.
“INEC should go back to the drawing board and ensure that there won’t be any excuse on Monday”.
Malam Shehu Sani of the Civil Rights Congress of Nigeria said the late delivery of materials is inexcusable going by the fact that enough funding and logistics have been provided and secured by the resident electoral commissioners across the states.
“An election cannot be credible until it is conclusive and all inclusive.
The announced cancellation of the elections by INEC Chairman is inevitable but could have been avoided. Even though the elections have been shifted, we believe it will unavoidably affect the morale and enthusiasm of Nigerian voters.
We demand for an immediate probe over the circumstances that led to this sabotage.”