Pic.36. Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) Chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, addressing a stakeholders meeting on 2019 General Elections’ postponement, in Abuja on Saturday (16/2/19).
01462/16/2/2019/Sumaila Ibrahim/BJO/NAN
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has postponed the forthcoming Gubernatorial and State House of Assembly elections scheduled for Saturday, March 11th across the country, reports from several media houses claim.
State-owned NTA reports that “INEC has postponed the Governorship and State houses of assembly elections earlier scheduled for March 11th to March 18th 2023.”
“Our INEC correspondent Mie Ogidi who is following up development at the INEC headquarters headquarters, Abuja will give us more updates as the election management body is on marathon meeting to give details on the postponement,” it added.
PUNCH reports that “a state Resident Electoral Commissioner who spoke to our correspondent on the condition of anonymity confirmed the decision.”
The report added that INEC Chairman “Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, and his commissioners were in a closed door meeting over the governorship election. The meeting commenced at 7pm on Wednesday.”
According to People’s Gazette, an official familiar with the meeting said that: “The elections were postponed to allow one more week for preparations. We should be able to get everything in order before March 18.”
There’s no official word from the electoral umpire yet on these reports.
Today, multiple reports have brought to light news that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has postponed the gubernatorial election due to take place Saturday 18th of December in 2017 in Anambra State.
The decision to postpone the election was made public by INEC spokesman, Nick Dazang, on Thursday morning, at a press briefing in Awka. According to Mr. Dazang, the election has been postponed due to “challenges beyond the control of INEC.”
The spokesperson went on to state that the new date for the election will be announced in due time.
This news has sent shockwaves across Anambra state as many citizens have already made the necessary preparations such as voting cards. There has been confusion over the news, with some reports claiming the election was postponed due to allegation of bribery and financial fraud occurring in the state, while some reports state that the electoral commission is facing logistical problems.
In addition, the press statement made by the INEC could not confirm or deny the sources of the report on bribery and financial fraud or the actual reason for the postponement.
Despite the lack of explanation, the decision was made in tandem with Nigeria’s electoral laws and the Federal Government had been briefed on the issue.
The election which was expected to be hotly contested and decided by all the 21 gubernatorial candidates, may see a change of date and could produce a different outcome.
