Director of Media and Publicity of the Peoples Democratic Party Presidential Campaign Organisation (PDPPCO), Chief Femi Fani_Kayode , has debunked views being canvassed by the international media that the general elections initially scheduled to hold on February 14 and 28 were postponed principally because of Boko Haram insurgency in the northeast.
The former Aviation Minister said the decision to shift the elections never emanated from the government of President Goodluck Jonathan as being speculated, but from the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) owing to the problem of logistics it encountered.
Fani-Kayode spoke to the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) African Service last night. He noted that INEC mainly agreed to shift the dates for the scheduled general elections mainly because many eligible voters were yet to get their Permanent Voters Cards (PVCs).
He stressed that the percentage of those who were yet to get the cards was still high as at the time the dates of the elections were shifted.
He said INEC had announced that about 34 per cent of eligible voters were yet to get the PVCs, stressing that the scheduled general elections could not have been allowed to go on with a high percentage of Nigerians being disenfranchised.
He told BBC that Boko Haram became part of the problem for postponing the election because the service chiefs suggested to INEC that they could not guarantee security during a nation-wide election, while the attention of the military would be concentrated on the task of flushing the insurgents out of the northeast where they have been operating.
He debunked speculations that Boko Haram has now assumed an influence on politics in Nigeria to the extent of causing the change of election dates. He said although the insurgents before now were operating freely in some parts of Nigeria including Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, with a spate of bombings, the military had responded and fought valiantly to push them to the northeast zone of the country. He, however, gave kudos to the Nigerian soldiers who he said did a remarkable job in containing the rampaging insurgents.
Fani-Kayode said the postponement has never affected the preparation of the PDP, noting that the party was ever ready to go full blast into the elections if they had been allowed to hold on to the scheduled dates.
He reiterated PDP’s preparedness for the next general elections, noting that the party would win resoundingly any time the elections take place. On whether or not the PDP would support any further postponement in the event of inability of the military to effectively contain the insurgents in the north-east as proposed by the military, Fani-Kayode said the Constitution of Nigeria has given limitations on the number of days elections should hold before the hand-over date. -The Sun.
