Saraki Expresses Shock, Disappointment Over Election Postponement

President of the Senate, Bukola Saraki, has expressed shock and
disappointment over the postponement of the Presidential and
National Assembly elections by the Independent National Electoral
Commission (INEC).

Saraki, who is also the Director General of the Peoples
Democratic Party (PDP) Presidential Campaign Council, said that the
last minute postponement of the elections has caused a great
inconvenience to many Nigerians who are poised to vote for their
choice as President and federal legislators.

Saraki, in a statement by his Special Adviser on Media and
Publicity, Yusuph Olaniyonu has further expressed disappointment
that after all the preparations by the Electoral Commission, the
security services and other agencies of government, issues of
logistics and related matters are now said to be responsible for
postponing the federal elections at a time when Nigerians were
ready to cast their votes.

Appealing to Nigerian not to be deterred, the President of the
Senate, who frowned at the last minute postponement of the
elections, said, “waiting till just a few hours to commencement of
voting before announcing postponement of elections is extremely
sad.

“Nobody can quantify the difficulty that this will bring to
people at every level. I empathize with youth corps members who
have been relocated from their places of primary assignment to
assist with the conduct of the elections.

“My thoughts also go to civil servants who left their bases to
go and vote in their hometowns. I also sympathize with millions of
ordinary Nigerian traders whose businesses were suspended because
of the no movement order. Thus, the costs of this postponement are
incalculable.

“However, I want to appeal to Nigerians not to be deterred,
discouraged or disappointed. They must continue to be strong and
determined to cast their votes for their preferred candidates.

“Next Saturday, they should try and forget the current setback
and troop out en masse to vote for their preferred candidates. Not
voting because of the postponement is not a good option for
Nigerians. My appeal to our people is that we must still go out
next Saturday to exercise our franchise.

“At this point, Government and INEC should focus on what is the
way forward and ensure that the elections take place as
rescheduled. They should move swiftly to smoothen all the rough
edges. The Commission must ensure we do not have a repeat of what
happened today. We have been saying it that the 2019 elections
should be a clear improvement on that of 2015.

“Nigerians are wiser. They will definitely punish this
government that has displayed incompetence, lack of capacity and
foresight and vote for the team that will get Nigeria working
again.”