By Oloniruha Emmanuel
Abuja – The Inter-Party Advisory Council (IPAC) has said that the rescheduling of the governorship election in Edo by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) was an endorsement of stakeholders’ view.
National Chairman of the council, Alhaji Muhammad Nalado, stated this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Friday in Abuja.
Nalado, who is also the National Chairman of Accord Party, said that security in an election was key and could not be ignored.
“When the advice to postpone the election came, INEC called for a stakeholders’ meeting in Benin where series of suggestion were offered.
“I think the decision of INEC to postpone the election by two weeks to Sept. 28 endorsed the mind of election stakeholders.
“If the security agencies said they cannot provide security for the people and election materials on the election date, what do you expect from INEC?
“What will happen if INEC ignore such advice and go on with the election and some things go wrong?
“The issue of security is not what anybody can toil with,’’ Nalado said.
He also said that the security advice may not be unconnected with the coincidences of the election with the festive period of Eid-el-Kabir.
“We all know that sallah is celebrated across the country and there is need for the security agencies to deploy their personnel to protect the people, given the situation of security threat in the country.
“I think that might have made the security agencies to advise INEC to postpone the election so as to have enough personnel to deploy across the country for the sallah celebration,’’ Nalado said.
He, however, urged INEC and any other agencies to always cross check their calendar in fixing date for any national assignment to ensure that it did not coincide with festivals or important events.
Nalado also advised Nigerians to take the postponement of the election in good faith and pray for successful and violent-free poll on Sept. 28.
“The fact is that the new date will come and pass. The most important thing is to have a successful election and that is what we should pray for,’’ he added.
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