Senators elected on the platform of the All Progressives Congress on Sunday condemned the decision of the Independent National Electoral Commission to postpone the general elections by six weeks.
The senators described the shift in date as an orchestrated attempt to derail the country’s democracy.
The APC senators, in a statement by their spokesperson, Senator Babafemi Ojudu (Ekiti Central Senatorial District), further tagged the postponement as a “tele-guided plot” by the Peoples Democratic Party to derail democracy in Nigeria.
According to Ojudu: “What we are seeing is a desperate and jittery response to the imminent defeat of the PDP.
“The postponement has shown the helplessness of INEC in the face of a malicious cabal bent on destroying the fabric of democracy.”
The APC senators pointed out that the decision to postpone the elections has raised a big credibility question on INEC and the forthcoming elections.
“This decision is borne out of fear of defeat and malice against the people of Nigeria in the face of the overwhelming support the APC commands across the country,” the senators said.
The PDP leadership in collaboration with INEC, the APC senators said, had put Nigeria in extremely bad light in the comity of nations.
They maintained that the postponement was a diversionary tactics which undermined the aspirations of Nigerians and dims the hope for change in a country that in the past had seen bitter upheavals due to similar partisan posture of the election umpire.
They accused INEC of placing itself above the interests of the people, claiming that the action of the electoral body runs contrary to the decision of the National Council of State.
According to them: “The action of the PDP will have serious negative impact on the economy. It will spur public distrust, dampen people’s morale and deplete the resources of stakeholders in the electoral process.
“This action has brought the integrity of Nigeria into an all time low. It has deepened the political crisis engineered in the first place by the PDP.”
The APC federal legislators noted with regret that the INEC and the PDP leadership did not consult the opposition, which was a major stakeholder in the political process, alleging that the action was a unilateral decision of INEC.
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