Don’t shift polls, 26 registered parties tell INEC

All the 26 registered political parties in the country, on Tuesday in Abuja, asked the Independent National Electoral Commission not to postpone the forthcoming general elections slated for February.

Chairman of the Inter-Party Advisory Council (the body of the registered parties), Mr. Yunusa Tanko, stated this in Abuja on Tuesday.

Tanko spoke against the agitation by some people who were asking the electoral body to shift the elections by at least one month.



Those calling for the postponement were basing their argument on the premise that the electoral body had not been able to give all voters their Permanent Voter Cards.

Speaking with journalists at the quarterly meeting of INEC with the leadership of the registered political parties ahead of the general elections, Tanko declared that all the political parties’ electoral body were ready and fully prepared for the polls.

He said all the registered political parties were already on the field canvassing for votes.

He also added that a lot of human and material resources had been committed towards having successful elections in the country.

Tanko said, “As we speak INEC has not come out to tell us that the elections will be shifted; INEC has been carrying the registered political parties along in all the preparations for the February polls.

“Though there may be challenges in the area of distribution of the Permanent Voter Cards, that is not enough to postpone the elections. To us it remains agitation and we are not in support of the idea.”

He however urged INEC to approach the Federal Government for possible declaration of public holiday to enable all eligible voters who were yet to collect their PVCs to do so before the elections.

This action, he said, would be more honourable than postponing the elections under the pretext on non-collection of PVCs.

Speaking on the pockets of political violence trailing the campaigns of the leading Political parties in the country despite the Abuja Peace Accord signed by the 14 presidential candidates, Tanko said the IPAC condemned the violence acts in strong terms.

He said that a committee had been set up to monitor the activities of all political parties, saying that IPAC would not hesitate to take legal action against defaulting political parties and their members.

Meanwhile, the All Progressives Congress has demanded a concrete statement from INEC on the February dates for the elections.

It also warned that no one should interfere with the conduct of the elections.