Breaking News: Election Must Hold, Council Of State Approves

Posted by African Examiner Featured, Latest Headlines, Nigeria 2015 Election Thursday, February 5th, 2015

*Council of State Decision Is Nation Triumphs -APC

By Ayo Balogun, Abuja – After several hours of meeting, the Council of State has concluded that elections must hold in the nation as scheduled.

They refused that the elections be postponed as being canvassed by President Goodluck Jonathan and his party, the PDP.

FROM LEFT: PRESIDENT GOODLUCK JONATHAN; FORMER PRESIDENT SHEHU SHAGARIAND FORMER PRESIDENT IBRAHIM BABANGIDA AFTER THE NATIONAL COUNCIL OF STATE MEETING IN ABUJA

The meeting which lasted for seven hours in Abuja on Thursday advised the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to go on with the elections in line with the constitutional provision.

It was gathered that INEC had informed the council that it was ready to conduct the election as scheduled.

It was also learnt that security concerns raised issues about security as some local governments in the troubled North East were under the control of Boko Haram, meaning that elections might not hold in them.

INEC has been asked to consider all inputs raised at the meeting and find ways to address them, with the council insisting that elections must go ahead.

Meanwhile, the decision of the National Council of State at its meeting of Thursday rejecting the proposal to postpone the February 14, 2015 presidential election and other elections scheduled for the general elections is the “triumph of the nation and its people over parochial individual and political interest.”

In a statement by Malam Garba Shehu, Director, Media and Publicity of the APC Presidential Campaign Organisation, the campaign said that the position of the Council of State vindicates the position of millions of Nigerians who are ready and keen on the elections and who want to change the circumstances of the country.

The statement said further that upholding the February 14, 2015 date and other scheduled dates for the election, confirms the sacrosanct nature of those dates as well as the May 29, 2015 handover date.

“We are heartened that a major crisis of political and constitutional nature has been averted which would have made Nigeria the laughing stock of the civilised world.

“The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has always said it is ready for the polls, likewise all the security and intelligence agencies and more importantly, the Nigerian people, who are the voters. It would have been a terrible disservice if on the basis of personal interest the elections were postponed.

“No nation learns all the lessons of democracy at once thus it is the belief of our campaign that INEC, the electoral umpire still has the chance and is indeed determined and ready to organise credible polls next week and thereafter.

“We congratulate the masses of our people for the decision of the Council of State. This is a sure sign that Nigerian people are ready.”