postponement of the general
elections.
Reacting, the Director of Media and
Publicity of the PDP Presidential
Campaign Organization, Femi Fani-
Kayode said the decision made by
INEC was in the interest of the
whole nation as well as a move to
deepen our democracy.
“ 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.” he said
