The All Progressives Congress said it respected the decision of the Independent National Electoral Commission to postpone the Governorship and State House of Assembly elections from March 11 to 18.
Felix Morka, the APC National Publicity Secretary, said this in a statement it issued on Thursday in Abuja.
Morka said the postponement of the election followed the ruling by the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal on the reconfiguration of the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System used for the presidential election by the INEC.
The party said it noted INEC’s reassurance that data from the Presidential and National Assembly elections will be properly backed up on its cloud facilities.
“We urge INEC to do everything within its power to preserve and protect the integrity of the extracted data from BVAS as it has committed to do before court,” he said.
He enjoined INEC to use the opportunity presented by the election postponement to address any gaps or hitches identified in the Presidential and National Assembly election of February 25.
This, the APC scribe said, was critical to avoid a reoccurrence of such hitches in the now March 18 Governorship and State House of Assembly elections.
He said this was necessary as presidential candidates and their political parties explored and exercised their constitutional liberty to challenge or defend the outcome of the Presidential and National Assembly elections.
He said: “We must remind ourselves of the overriding duty that we bear to eschew conducts and actions capable of undermining the peace of our country.”
Morka re-emphasised that the APC candidate, now President-elect, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, emerged as the overwhelming choice of Nigerians in the presidential election, which he described as free and fair.
According to Morka, the February 25 presidential election was in substantial compliance with the Electoral Act and INEC guidelines for the 2023 general elections.
“We are thankful for our renewed presidential mandate and urge our supporters and indeed Nigerians to double down on their support for our party, and its candidates in the upcoming governorship and State Assembly elections,” he said.