Shekarau, Gaya, Na’aba, others react

Governor Ibrahim Shekarau of Kano State has challenged the INEC on the mechanisms to safeguard electoral materials, especially ballot papers that are now in the hands of polling clerks.

Shekarau who described the postponement as shocking and unfortunate said the sensitivity of the materials was responsible for their being kept in secured areas and strong rooms across the country.

In his reaction yesterday, he said it is incumbent on Prof. Jega to convince Nigerians what mechanism would be put in place to ensure the safety of those materials and make up for the shortfalls.

“Before the announcement of the postponement, voting had commenced in some areas. According to security reports reaching us, materials had been made available to about 80 per cent of Kano State and voting actually commenced in some polling units before the postponement.

“I think INEC has the responsibility of assuring Nigerians about the safety of the materials and how it intends to make up for the shortfall for the already used ballot papers. This is because in some areas, more than 90 per cent voters had voted, so what is INEC going to do about this as the announcement got to them late in the afternoon by the time voting had started.”

Shakarau appealed to Nigerians to be patient: “We have no alternative to INEC, we have to give them a benefit of the doubt and hope the decision is in the best interest of Nigerians”.

Former Speaker of the House of Representatives  Alh. Umar Ghali Na’aba said INEC’s action was the best for the country in this circumstance.

“I pray that INEC should be able to put things right so that Monday’s elections will restore confidence of Nigerians in the electoral process.

“I hope by Monday, INEC will be able to fix it properly this time around”.

Senator Kabiru Gaya, Deputy Minority Whip and a senatorial candidate for Kano South on the platform of All Nigerian Peoples Party (ANPP) described the postponement as embarrassing to the country. 

“I think the Senate should summon Jega to come and explain the rationale behind the abrupt postponement of the election on the voting day. Like in my Senatorial district, I had even voted after being accredited just like over 80 per cent of the electorate in my senatorial district.

Tanko Yakasai, former Special Adviser on National Assembly Matters to former President Shehu Shagari said: I think the postponement is a disappointing situation. No matter how much anybody can do, if the preparation is faulty, INEC cannot go ahead and conduct a faulty election.

“Nigerian should, however, be patient hoping that by Monday things would have been sorted out by INEC.

“This is because any further disappointment will erode the confidence of Nigerians in INEC. It is a serious setback for the country”.