A former Commissioner of Information, Akwa Ibom State, Mr. Ita Awak, has berated the Peoples Democratic Party for the postponement of the 2015 general elections.Awak, who spoke with our correspondent in Uyo on Monday, added that whatever strategy the PDP might adopt, the All Progressives Congress would be victorious.
He stated that the rationale for postponing the election was not based on security reports as alleged. He said it was based on reports by International Election Monitors that said the APC presidential candidate, Maj. Gen. Muhammadu Buhari (retd.) would have 70 per cent of the votes while President Goodluck Jonathan would get only 30 per cent.
He added that the PDP embarked on election postponement to enable it to draw a scheme on how to compromise the electoral process.
Awak revealed that some youth groups in the state had started canvassing for the elimination of the card readers, saying the technology was not reliable.
“Election postponement is a big blow to democracy in Nigeria. By this action, Nigerians even hate the PDP the more. The peaceful election that would have been conducted, Jonathan has ruined it.
“We are sure of ourselves. We are the Nigerians’ party; people are by our sides. Whatever strategy the PDP deploys, the APC will prevail,” he said.
He added that the only remedy for Jonathan would be to conduct a free and fair election. He noted that by postponing the election based on whatever strategies, the ruling party would even lose more votes.
Meanwhile, the Civil Liberties Organisation, Akwa Ibom State chapter, has condemned the postponement of the general elections by the Independent National Electoral Commission.
The Chairman of the organisation, Mr. Clifford Thomas, said that the only justifiable reason for postponing the election could be to enable greater number of voters to participate.
“Assuming you have 45 million registered voters and only 12 million of them vote, it does not legitimise the government; government must have legitimacy, power and influence. All these equal to authority. People must give the government legitimacy to function.
“You can’t have less than 20 million Nigerians voting and expect to have legitimacy,” he said.
