Presidency Asks APC To Explain Dangers Of Election Postponement

Addressing a press conference in Abuja on Friday, the
Senior Special Assistant to President Goodluck
Jonathan on Public Affairs, Dr. Doyin Okupe, said that
the government had no right to force the electoral body
to change the date of the election, addressing
insinuations that the presidency was pushing for the
postponement of the elections.
His statement was against the backdrop of calls for the
elections to be held on the 14 and 28 of February as
scheduled.
“The Federal Government is not exerting pressure on
the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC)
to shift the election dates,” he said.
According to him, the government was only asking the
electoral umpire to ensure that all eligible voters got
their Permanent Voters Cards (PVC) before the election.
The members of the APC had stressed the need for the
elections to be conducted on the set days, saying that a
shift would make Nigerians lose confidence in the
process.
But Dr. Okupe said that the President could not in good
conscience endorse an electoral arrangement where
people from a section of the country would be excluded
from the electoral process due to no fault of theirs or
by virtue of just being unfortunate residents of an area
under siege of terrorism.
Ready To Conduct Elections
The INEC had set a deadline of February 8 for the
collection of the PVC, but as at February 5, data
available showed that out of the 68.8 million registered
voters only 66.3 million cards have been printed and
delivered.
As at February 5, only 65.8 per cent of the Permanent Voter Cards
have been distributed by the electoral body
At a Council of State meeting on Thursday, the INEC
gave the assurance that the presidential election would
hold on February 14 as scheduled.
INEC told the National Council of State that it was ready
to conduct the February elections, despite the
distribution of the PVC that electorates said was slow.
The Ondo State Governor, Olusegun Mimiko and his
Imo State counterpart, Rochas Okorocha, told reporters
after the meeting that the INEC assured the council of
its readiness to conduct the February elections and that
the distribution of the Permanent Voter Cards was
going well.
Two days to the deadline of the PVC distribution, some
electorates in Lagos are yet to receive their PVC , with
many of them expressing frustration with the process.
INEC said it would achieve at least 85 per cent
distribution before the election date, but as at February
5 only 45.09 million PVC have been distributed,
representing 65.8% of registered voters.
Dr. Okupe’s statement was also made to clear the
Federal Government of any accusation of trying to
persuade the INEC to postpone the electio