Sambo Dasuki Wants February Elections Postponed
The National Security Adviser, Sambo Dasuki, has called for the postponement of the scheduled February general elections in the country.
Speaking on Thursday, in a talk at a London think-tank, Dasuki advised the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to extend the date for the forthcoming general elections.
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Ynaija reports that Dasuki advised that the INEC should consider postponing the planned elections for some time in order for it to distribute voters’ cards to all eligible voters.
The national security adviser revealed that the electoral commission had 30 million cards left to distribute and had only managed to distribute 30 million in the past year.
“What sense does it make to vote three months early when there are 30 million cards still with INEC? That’s my position,” Dasuki said.
However, Dasuki might be going along the line of initial speculations that the ruling party does not want elections to hold following the insecurity ravaging parts of the country.
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Meanwhile, INEC spokesperson, Kayode Idowu told SaharaReporters that INEC was not aware of Col. Dasuki’s suggestion, and that the elections will hold as scheduled.
Several sources connected to the presidency informed that President Jonathan wants the elections to be postponed for at least six months, a period that will enable him to appoint a new INEC chairman of his liking to oversee the elections. Professor Attahiru Jega’s tenure expires in July 2015.
With Jega out of the way, Jonathan would appoint another INEC chairman who would further postponement of the election.
INEC's schedule for conducting the general elections has raised several arguments over the months.
The country's main opposition party the All Progressives Congress (APC) had earlier accused the incumbent President Goodluck Jonathan administration of plotting to shift the elections to extend his stay in office, but these claims have been debunked by presidential aides who in turn accuse the opposition of crying foul when there is none.
Contrary to the recent call made by the national security adviser, Governors of the troubled states of Adamawa, Borno and Yobe have called on President Jonathan to order the deployment of more troops to the states ahead of the February 14 general elections.
Source: Legit.ng
