Postponement: How APC, PDP reacted in Kano

Bashir Mohammed writes on how people reacted in Kano soon after the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) announced shift in dates of the general elections.

Cosmopolitan Kano

Kano being a melting political pot dating back to the twilight days of the Northern Elements Progressives Union(NEPU) under the leadership of the late Malam Aminu Kano down to the present Fourth Republic, had in the fast few days witnessed  unprecedented campaign activities by leading political parties, seeking to convince voters, ahead of the postponed general elections.

Postponement unexpected

No one, even in his wildest dream, ever thought that the general elections, which dates were fixed three years earlier, could be postponed in a jiffy by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) on what was alluded to as ‘logistical problems’, which the commission said it had encountered in the processes meant to facilitate the conduct of the general elections.

The chairman of the commission, Professor Mahmood Yakubu, who made the 11th hour postponement has indeed created a floodgate of suspicion, comment and castigation of the commission by notable political pundits in Kano, with many of them on the opposition front casting slur on the integrity of the INEC and Prof. Yakubu for their failure to match words with action more so since the commission had assured the country that he was ready for the exercise.

It was, however, their contention that conducting the election during the postponed dates is likely to prove absolutely impossible for the INEC to carry out the exercise on rescheduled, fearing that the INEC may also come up with another reason to effect another postponement. They also argued that it would be a cliff-hanger on the part of the INEC to convince Nigerians that it had any justifiable premise not to hold the election.

Supporters of the postponement in Kano were of the opinion that the shift-forward of the election was the only way out of the log-jam encountered in the delivery of the election materials to all the nooks and crannies of the country, affirming that allowing the elections to hold as scheduled earlier, without the delivery of the materials in many places would ultimately be used by opposition forces as a smoking gun evidence to nail the federal government.

The postponement, had undoubtedly elicited a flurry of reactions from renowned political analysts and notable actors, considering the magnitude of the postponement, which according to them, had sent shivers down their spines that there was something fishy.

APC reacts

A renowned chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Kano, Alhaji Anas Abba Dala, said the INEC has no alternative that to effect such postponement to save its image stressing that holding the elections in a haphazard manner would make the opposition forces to take a swipe at the sincerity of the electoral umpire.

He said postponing elections was not new to Nigerians as it had happened during the 2011 and 2015 elections, where the commission under the leadership of Professor Attahiru Jega postponed the 2015 elections for a period of six weeks, who even went ahead to give an ultimatum to the federal government to ensure that it had met INEC demands on adequate funding without hesitation.

According to him, it would be fool-hardy for one to cast unnecessary aspersion on the federal government for INEC’s blunder, affirming that  INEC being an independent electoral umpire has the constitutional right to take such decision , ruling out the suspicion that the ruling APC was creating a smokescreen to rig the election.

“What is annoying everyone is the fact that the Independent National Electoral Commission has already assured Nigerians that all was set for the conduct of the election with no major obstacle encountered people got prepared and abandoned everything in preparation for the elections, alas, they were disappointed.

“Theirs is no way one can appease the electorate easily. The elections should have been postponed earlier than now to avoid tension and unnecessary condemnation. All I know is that INEC has created bad image for itself, by telling Nigerians that it  was 100 percent ready for the exercise. It is absolutely ridiculous for such a pronouncement to be made, while the commission was not prepared.

“Nothing can stop the opposition from harbouring suspicion of any kind and asking the INEC to come out and tell Nigerians why it was postponing the elections. True, the argument has been hinged on none arrival of election materials in many destinations. The danger is; once the commission decided to hold the elections haphazardly, there would be hue and cry that rigging had been perfected for the ruling party to win landslide.

“People should remember that, we are living in a modern world and that we are under the watchful eyes of the international community. Foreign observers are keen to monitor the conduct of the election and report back to their respective countries on what they saw had transpired. There is no way the Nigerian government can be absolved from blame, once the elections were allowed to hold as scheduled earlier”, he posited.

However, the party remains overly optimistic that even if the elections were postponed a 100 times, Buhari would still win the election, adding that results of notable pollsters and respected opinion leaders were all in that direction.

“I am pretty confident that there is no impediment in  the way of achieving such objective, knowing that my  high optimism had been  proven by the unprecedented crowd that attended the rallies conducted by the ruling APC.

“The issue of rigging bandied about by the PDP Presidential flag bearer, to me, is superfluous, knowing that Buhari is not the kind of despot willing to hold onto power to continue pillaging public money. His major concern is to reposition the country on a sound and promising pedestal, not to engage himself in crude acts of brigandage.

“As a chieftain of the APC I am expressing my personal opinion on the simple logic that, my party is having a formidable agenda for the country. I am blowing my trumpet at the time our political detractors are taking solace in mudslinging to nail the political coffin of our great party, the APC I stand by my words and I will never regret what   I am saying,” he affirmed.

PDP kicks

Sounding a discordant opinion on the postponement, a renowned chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party in Kano, Malam Shehu Gadonkaya, said with the unfolding political development in the country, Nigeria is still reeling in the ropes of political stagnation, failing to chart a promising course in the nation’s supposed journey to stardom in African political arena.

According to him, the business of politics had been polluted to serve the interest of elites’ cabal at the time when many nations in Africa were willing to take a cue from Nigeria’s political experience adding that even the most despised African countries had made considerable headway in conducting credible elections without much hoopla.

He wondered why some selfish politicians should be playing with peoples’ intelligence in serving their whimsical interest at the expense of the nation, pointing out that no politician worth his salt would want turn the hands of the clock backward on the altar of primordial considerations.

He said: “I am highly disappointed with the decision taken to postpone the elections at the dying minute. The INEC should have earlier informed us that the elections would not hold as scheduled in the face of certain circumstances. We have wasted our energy, time and resources and the result was a spectacular failure.

“I have totally concurred with the view of Atiku that rigging was in the pipeline. The postponement had heightened my fear and suspicion that the federal government is only playing the ostrich as far as the issues of free, fair and credible elections are concerned in the country. I believed every Nigerian has comprehended the simple gimmick.

“I am beating my chest to tell Nigerians that, Atiku is on the road to winning the election, because the postponement had opened the avenue for him to make considerable headway. The APC being the ruling party is entertaining the fear that it would lose the election any time it was conducted. We in the PDP are only waiting for the funeral of the APC being the party calling shots at the helm of affairs”, he posited

Of course, Kano is central to both the APC and PDP both of which have insisted that they have enough followership in Kano to sway victory for them. Perhaps, the truly mammoth crowd that attended the presidential rallies of the President Buhari and PDP presidential candidate clear attested to this claim.

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