Council of State rejected postponement of elections

 
The All Progressives Congress, APC, governors have given details of what transpired at the meeting of the National Council of State, which held at the presidential villa in Abuja on Thursday.

The council had met to consider a proposal to postpone the general elections billed for 14 and 28 of this month.

According to APC governors, after spending the day listening to relevant bodies such as the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, and top echelons of the nation’s security apparatus, the council decided that the election should go on as planned.

Speaking under the banner of Progressive Governors Forum, PGF, the APC governors expressed satisfaction with the outcome of the meeting.

In a communiqué signed by its Chairman and Governor of Imo state, Rochas Okorocha, after the meeting, the governors said they were satisfied by the assurances given by INEC Chairman, Attahiru Jega and the National Security Adviser, NSA, Sambo Dasuki on the state of preparedness for the 14th and 28th February General elections.

”The Chairman of INEC assured Council that INEC is ready to proceed with elections scheduled emphasizing, in his own words, that ‘ our accomplishments are to such a degree that we can conduct the elections.

“Compared with the 2011 General Elections, for instance, our systems are definitely more robust. We believe that we are ready for the elections as planned,” Mr. Jega was quoted as saying.

According to the Communiqué, NSA Dasuki pointed to ongoing security challenges in 14 Local Government Areas in Adamawa, Borno and Yobe states.

Mr. Dasuki had last month called for the postponement of the polls on the grounds that many Nigerians would be disenfranchised because it was practically impossible for all registered voters to get their Permanent Voters Cards, PVC, before the scheduled dates of the election.

His argument for a postponement of the election due to security concerns in the North East Thursday was a shift from his earlier position.

The communiqué by APC governors said they noted the concerns Mr. Dasuki expressed at the meeting.

The governors also said that the proposal for a shift was backed by all governors of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, despite the assurances given by INEC.

The APC governors advised all state governors to engage the Judiciary Staff Union of Nigeria, JUSUN with a view to resolving the strike by judicial staff in the states.