“We Are Ready For The Elections And Will Not Accept Any Postponement”-APC

The All Progressives Congress (APC) on Monday, said that it will not accept any shift in election date on any grounds. This was contained in a press statement given by the National Publicity Secretary of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Alhaji Lai Mohammed, at a press conference in Lagos. See the statement below: Good morning gentlemen. You will recall that in our press statement of Jan. 22nd 2015, our party, the All Progressives Congress (APC), strongly rejected the call by the National Security Adviser, Col. Sambo Dasuki, for the postponement of next month’s general elections, ostensibly to give more time to INEC to distribute the Permanent Voters Cards (PVCs).

In spite of this, we have noted with dismay that the Jonathan Administration has continued to pursue the plot to shift the elections. That plot in itself is one of the two-pronged approach being pursued by the Administration to either shift or scuttle the elections, which are scheduled for Feb. 14th and 28th. The other is the campaign for an Interim Government. It is important to state here that for the APC as a party, both options represent the Devil’s Alternative (apologies to British writer Frederick Forsyth, who has a book by the same title), and are totally, absolutely unacceptable to us under any circumstance.

When President Goodluck Jonathan met with US Secretary of State John Kerry on Sunday here in Lagos, the President said he told the visiting US top diplomat that ”the May 29th handover date is sacrosanct”. We say this is not reassuring enough, and that for us, the February 14th and 28th dates for the elections are as sacrosanct as the handover date of May 29th. Therefore, we are more assured by the call made by Mr. Kerry, that the elections should be held on time as scheduled. Nothing short of that will be acceptable to our party.

We are also satisfied with the assurance by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) that it is ready for the elections. The electoral body has also said it will continue with PVC distribution until the eve of the elections. Therefore, the orchestrated campaign about INEC not being ready for the elections is sheer baloney! Now, make no mistakes about it, we are aware of the limitless capacity of the PDP and the Jonathan Administration for anti-democratic and desperate actions in pursuit of selfish motives that have nothing to do with the interest of the good people of Nigeria. We are aware of the clandestine moves, including reaching out to various interest groups and hiring talking heads to make the television rounds, being made by the Administration to get the elections shifted.

The Jonathan Administration’s apologists are hiding under the facade that millions of Nigerians will be disenfranchised if the elections should proceed as scheduled. Again, they are using the terrorist attacks in some parts of the North to advance their election shift argument. We sincerely hope the recent escalation of the Boko Haram attacks, and the siege on Maiduguri on Sunday, a day after President Jonathan campaigned in the city, are not connected to this sophistry. All in all, these arguments in support of election postponement is a smokescreen. The truth is that the forthcoming elections terrify the PDP and the Jonathan Administration to such an extent that they are looking for ways to postpone or scuttle the polls.

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