Election Postponement: I Am Sorry For Nigeria, This Is Sad ― Alao-Akala

The gubernatorial candidate of the Action Democratic Party (ADP) in Oyo state and former governor of the state, Chief Adebayo Alao-Akala, on Saturday declared that the postponement of the February 16 elections in the country by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), is an ill-timed and sad development for the country.

Alao-Akala made this known at his Opadoyin Lodge residence in Ogbomoso while reacting to the election postponement, adding that it is a disgraceful and inconsiderate act considering the stress that people had gone through just to have a successful exercise.

According to him, the loss that the postponement will cause many people and the attendant difficulties imposed on the people as a whole is enormous and unwarranted.

“I am sad, it is unfortunate that election will be postponed a few hours to the commencement of the exercise. I am sorry for Nigeria; we should not be on this level at this period. what happens to the manpower already expended and human capital resource, can you imagine what Corp members drafted into the exercise were made to go through?

“Did they even consider the loss many people will be forced to incur as a result of the unexpected change. Who pays for these losses and inconveniences? This postponement is ill-timed and a bad decision. INEC had a long period to plan, it was counting down, yet, the commission had to wait till very few hours to start before postponing.

“Why did INEC wait till the last minute, did the commission not know that they weren’t adequately prepared a week ago? This is a failure on the part of INEC, why would they take Nigerians for granted that way? The economy of many people is already affected by this sad development and it is obvious that the authorities do not consider the effect of their actions on the people who are on the receiving end of their bad decision,” Alao-Akala stated.

He concluded that the effect of the postponement cannot be quantified, adding that, “no one can predict what it portends for the election on the new date; election materials which are sensitive in nature have already been distributed. How safe are those, can INEC vouch that this will not lead to tampering?”