Elections: “I am disappointed in the sudden postponement”– Abdulsalami

Former Military head of state General Abdulsalami Abubakar on
Saturday in Minna described as very disappointing the sudden
postponement of the Presidential and National Assembly elections
scheduled for today (Saturday).

Addressing Journalists at his Hilltop residence in Minna on
Saturday, the former Head of State who is also the National
Chairman for Peace and Reconciliation also appealed to Nigerians to
continue to maintain Peace and order rather than resort to violence
over the development.

This followed the decision by INEC to postpone the presidential
and National Assembly elections owing to logistics reasons.

According to him “It is disappointing that the elections had to
be postponed after a lot of preparations had been made, after all
the politicians have campaigned and for one reason or the other the
election is postponed”.

The Former head of state who spoke in Minna on Saturday while
reacting to the postponement of the elections by the Independent
National Electoral Commission (INEC) said despite the
disappointment, Nigerians must remain peaceful and pray that the
electoral body overcomes its logistical challenges.

“You are very much aware that elections were scheduled to have
taken place today, but because of logistical challenges, the INEC
in their wisdom decided to postpone the elections to Saturday next
week.

“I appeal to Nigerians to remain peaceful and not to resort to
any form of disturbances capable of breaching the peace as a result
of the postponement of the election.

“Let’s keep the peace and not resort to any violent act. Let us
hope and pray that INEC will put its house to order and get it
right next Saturday.

“I also want to appeal to Nigerians to bear with the INEC and
let us try to help them to overcome the logistic challenges they
are saying. We must, therefore, ensure we keep the peace, let us
keep the peace, let us not have any disturbances because of the
setback we have from the election postponement.

“As much as possible you try to bear the disappointment because
a lot of Nigerians travelled to their various locations for the
election to be able to do our civic right, but unfortunately here
we are today.

“My reaction towards the postponement is a disappointment,
especially after a lot of preparations, have been put in. All the
Politicians have gone up and down campaigning but sadly, for one
reason or the other, the date has been changed so certainly, it is
a disappointment but we pray we will get it right soon.

“Let us hope and pray for INEC that they overcome their problem
so that the elections will hold on Saturday next week. It is true
that most Nigerians have travelled to our various locations to
exercise our franchise but unfortunately, here we are today with
the postponement of the elections but rather than crucify INEC, let
us pray for it to overcome the present challenges it is
facing.”

The Former head of state, however, expressed reservations over
the inability of Nigerians to trust those that have been given
responsibility, adding that people are already making insinuations
about the postponement.

“The major problem we have in this country is trust, let us
continue to trust people that we have given responsibilities.
People are beginning to insinuate already but I think we should
trust people in position of authority”, he urged.