Fury, disappointment in Abia over poll postponement

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Fury, disappointment in Abia over poll postponement

By Steve Oko

Agry reactions have trailed the sudden postponement of the presidential and national assembly elections earlier scheduled for Saturday, February 16.

The Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, had at the wee hours of Saturday, announced postponement of the polls by one week, citing logistic challenges.

Reacting to the development, Mr. Ndubuisi Okocha, a civil servant said INEC’s reason for postponing the polls was both flimsy and appalling.

He wondered why the electoral umpire which had ample time to prepare for the polls could not put its house in order until “the dying minute.”

In its reaction, the All Progressive Grand Alliance, APGA, Abia State chapter, expressed total disappointment in INEC.

APGA chairman in Abia, Rev. Augustine Ehiemere ,in an interview, said that INEC had failed Nigerians by the sudden postponement.

He noted that some individuals had already travelled to their villages with the aim of performing their civic responsibilities, arguing that the development amounted to waste of scarce resources for such people.

The APGA Chairman called for a thorough investigation into the actual circumstances that led to the postponement with a view to ascertaining the true motive behind the action.

Ehiemere who said the action could be a smoke screen by the All Progressive Congress for a sinister action argued that there is no

smoke without fire”.

In his reaction own reaction, Senator Mao Ohuabunwa expressed rude shock over the development.

He said that the suddeness of the development suggested that it had more than met the eye.

“Maybe their plan to rig the elections did not add up “, Ohuabunwa said, while urging Nigerians to be more vigilant.

Ohuabunwa who said he had earlier raised alarm over plot by APC to rig the Abia North senatorial race as result sheets for the contest were allegedly hijacked by the party’s candidate on Friday.

He however said Abia North and, indeed, Nigerians were resolute in their decision to vote against APC.

Similarly , former Chairman of PDP, Abia State, Senator Emma Nwaka, also expressed dissapointment in INEC over the “sad development”.

Nwaka who spoke with our Correspondent from his Isuikwuato home where he said he had travelled to vote expressed fury over the postponement which he added had further ridiculed the Nigerian democracy.

He said the postponement was a big inconvenience to a lot of people who had travelled to their villages for the polls.

On the justification for the postponement, Nwaka said it smacked of a clandestine plot to manipulate the outcome of the elections.

” Look at what the people who said they brought change that is not real have done.

“I didn’t see APC doing enough campaigns in the field and grass root. Maybe they know they will lose or they know they are planning evil”.

He said the recent developments in the country and the clamp down on the judiciary called for concern.

Nwaka called on the international community to beam its searchlight on Nigeria, and hold APC responsible for whatever that happens to our democracy.

But in his own reaction, the governorship candidate of APC, Dr. Uche Ogah, said he had adopted the official reaction of the national party on the matter.

Speaking through his Media Advicer, Great Imo Jonathan, Ogah said he totally allied himself with the position of his party.

End.

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Steve Oko, Publisher/C.E.O, WaWa News Global. For more information on advert placement and news coverage, contact us on: 08038725600, or via email stevemanofgod2000@yahoo.com; wawanewsglobal@gmail.com Always read WaWa News Global - Your most dependable online news platform for the latest breaking news in Nigeria.