Mixed reaction have continued to trail the postponement of the presidential and national assembly elections.
The Peoples Democratic Party in Benue state said that postponement of the 2019 elections by the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, has thrown the country into a state confusion, pain and anger.
The party in a press statement signed by its State Publicity Secretary, Bemgba Iortyom, noted with pains that many people had journeyed to various destinations to exercise their franchise just to be disappointed.
The party therefore condemned the postponement describing it as a national calamity.
The statement read in part, “Many Nigerians had travelled home from their places of work to perform their civic duty at quite some cost, and they have been caught unprepared to bear the attendant additional costs of undertaking the exercise all over again next Saturday.
“National Youth Service Corps, NYSC, members who were recruited as ad hoc staff for the election travelled over long distances at their own expenses and had to pass the night in open spaces under inhuman conditions, only to be left high and dry and battling to find their way back.
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“Businesses were closed for the day, schools took the mid-term break and scheduled to resume after the elections, in conformity with an already structured calendar, which will now have to be tampered with.
“The sense of despair, anger and pain is so palpable across the country that the situation rightly qualify as a national emergency.
“The PDP in Benue State condemns this postponement as a national calamity and lays the blame squarely at the doorsteps of the All Progressives Congress, APC, controlled administration of President Muhammadu Buhari.”
“The PDP expresses sympathies with Nigerians over the incalculable losses they have incurred, both material, psychological and sundry, and this represent the climax of the close to four years of an era characterised by misery, lack of direction and insensitivity under the rule of APC.
“It is unacceptable that INEC under the supervising watch of Buhari/APC should cite “Logistical” reasons as its alibi for calling off the Saturday vote.”
The party said for the electoral umpire to have waited till only hours to the commencement of casting of ballots before announcing the postponement smirked of a hidden agenda against the voting population of the country.
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It however, urged Nigerians resident and voting in Benue State to be steadfast and not be discouraged by this obvious ploy of a postponement targeting to dampen their desire to vote and as such disenfranchise them.
Meanwhile, for the Governorship candidate of the Peoples Redemption Party, PRP, Rev Frederick Ikyaan, every disappointment is a blessing. He therefore urged all Nigerians to look at the positive side of INEC’s decision.
“For the reasons of logistics as given by INEC, I want to see it as a positive development and as a practical demonstration of wanting to do what is right and doing it correctly.
“So for me, if they still want to postpone the election next Saturday, I will not be offended and I wish that other Nigerians will see it in this positive light.”
The PRP guber candidate noted that the elections have been anticipated four years ago and waiting for one more week cannot deter the country from achieving what is right.
Ikyaan described the postponement as a welcome development saying it gives an opportunity for the political class to consolidate on what they have done so far, to build new grounds and perfect their strategy and plans towards victory.
Asked if the shift will affect his chances of winning, Ikyaan said “Our chances are very high because victory at the election is about the electorates. Our interaction with the electorates show their commitment to us as a party is exceptional. So we are not just thinking, we are very sure that the commitment will be demonstrated in our favour on the day of election”.
