A Very Sad Development For The Nation – Senator Adawari Pepple
It’s not a bad thing if and only if it is to avert the much touted staggered elections. It’s better the National Assembly and Presidential elections are conducted in all the states at once… But INEC (Independent National Electoral Commission) had well over three years or four years to conduct this election and there should be no excuse in terms of logistics and so on. They’ve been given all the money that they asked for and so to that extent, it’s a very sad development for the nation. This is about the third time we are postponing elections and if it becomes the norm, then there’s likely going to be voter apathy in that nobody will take INEC seriously when it gives a date for an election. So, all together, INEC should put its house in order and on each election be able to conduct it… and not to shift it as they have done now.
The Postponement Was Quite Unfortunate – Anabs Sara-Igbe
It is an unfortunate situation. Previously the government had been stopping elections for fear of security and so on but this time, it was INEC itself which stopped the elections few hours to the election. Well, they have given their reasons for stopping the elections and Nigerians are not truly happy with the way they did it. Then, for political parties, they had deployed a lot of resources towards this elections… so, it’s quite unfortunate (but) God knows the best… We pray that INEC should conduct the election in a free, fair and transparent manner next weekend… So, let’s look forward to how next week will be. I pray Nigerians will vote according to their conscience in a civilized and peaceful manner, not to be violent.
INEC Boss Seemed To Be Under Pressure To Postpone Elections – Christian Lekia, President, Niger Delta Coalition Against Violence
As far as I’m concerned, there is no moral justification for INEC to have postponed the election… INEC for today, as far as I’m concerned, have not been able to give any genuine reasons for the postponement but from all indications, it seems as though the Chairman is under pressure. He needs to be sincere and open up otherwise he should equally be prepared to take the blame for whatever consequences that this action would result in. Never had it been in the history of this country for elections to have been postponed on the day of election. The last time we had election postponement in Nigeria, the reasons given were very clear and it took the National Council of States to take a position on that and they gave us those reasons. The military were handling an operation in the North-East and clearly they stated that they required six weeks to clear the storms otherwise they said they would not take responsibility for whatever that could have happened and they did the miracle and elections were conducted. But now, on the eve of the elections, unlike then, INEC as an institution, was still giving Nigerians the impression that they were ready and prepared to conduct credible, peaceful and hitch-free elections. So, it’s a disappointment. It will amount to an absolute loss of confidence except better reasons are being advanced. This will become a country where anything is possible. It is so unfortunate.
Workers Should Remain Resolute And Be Prepared To Vote, February 23rd – Beatrice Itubo, Chairperson, Nigeria Labour Congress, Rivers State Branch
Everybody is disappointed but I’m calling on workers to remain resolute and still come out next Saturday to go and vote for any candidate of their choice.
The Postponement Was Unfair – Sylvester Adaka, NBA Chairman, Port-Harcourt Branch
Every Nigerian was surprised. I was shocked that the elections were postponed and the postponement announced at about 3am or 4 am. It’s unprecedented in this country. There’s no way INEC would have said that a week ago, it didn’t have an apprehension that things may not go right. So, I think it is unfair. I think it is incompetent of INEC. I don’t know how they are going to make up for it… I hope they make up for it and I think if citizens of Nigeria were to seek redress in court against INEC for this postponement, I’m not sure they will be able to bear the cost.
INEC’s action Was A Sabotage – Hope Utchay
My reaction is that INEC is wrong in postponing the election at that time of the day. The INEC Chairman had assured that everything was set for the elections only for him to postpone the elections at the very last minute. From what they are saying, it’s a sabotage. Are we sure that this election will be free and fair? For me, I don’t think that the election will be free and fair and that is my worry.
The Postponement Was Very Annoying – Preye Brown
I was very angry. It was very painful and annoying. I paid transport from here (Port-Harcourt) to Opobo only to hear that the election had been cancelled. So, it was very painful and annoying.
We Were Surprised To Hear Of The Post-ponement – Nwabekee Amarachi
The thing (postponement) came unexpectedly because we had already planned to vote and we heard that the election had been postponed. So, everybody was shocked. We have not heard of something like that before, so, we were very surprised to have heard of the last-minute postponement.
The Postponement Was Terrible News – Adata Briggs
It was terrible! I was in a situation room actually with my group and we were waiting. When we got the news (of postponement), I felt very bad that after all the travelling and all that, we have to hold this election on another date, but we are still going to go out and vote.
INEC Is Not Prepared To Conduct Free And Fair Elections – Lezina Amegua
We have to agree with the postponement of the election at this time though we all felt disappointed considering the fact that the cancellation came to our notice few hours to the election, but more importantly, it demonstrates to Nigerians INEC’s unpreparedness to deliver a credible election. There are indeed high-handed interests who may have manipulated the electoral process perhaps from the ruling party. On the other hand, we can only hope for a credible election come 23rd February, 2019.
