The calls for the postponement of this month’s general
elections may be discussed during Thursday’s
(tomorrow) Council of State meeting convened by
President Goodluck Jonathan.
The council consists of the President, the Vice-
President, all former Presidents or ex-Heads of State, all
former Chief Justices of Nigeria, the President of the
Senate, all state governors and the Attorney-General of
the Federation.
One of the key responsibilities of the body is to advise
the President in the exercise of his powers with respect
to the Independent National Electoral Commission,
including the appointments of members of the
commission.
Proponents of the polls’ shift had hinged it on the
inability of INEC to distribute enough Permanent Voter
Cards to registered voters. The call is widely believed to
be engineered by the Presidency, which though had
denied the charge.
INEC had however insisted that there would be no
postponement of the elections.
The PUNCH however learnt from a Presidency official in
Abuja on Tuesday that the Council of State would
review the preparations for the elections by INEC and
the relevant security agencies.
He said that information available to the government
showed that contrary to the claims by the Chairman of
INEC, Prof. Attahiru Jega, the commission was not yet
ready for the elections.
For example, the official claimed that INEC only
awarded the contract for the printing of ballot papers
for the February 14 presidential election last Monday.
He wondered how the ballot papers would be made
ready before February 14 which is the first day of the
polls.
The official said, “The truth of the matter is that if
urgent step is not taken, Prof. Jega may end up
ridiculing this country.
“Available information shows that the commission is not
set for this election contrary to Jega’s claim.
“We learnt he actually summoned a meeting recently
with a view to postponing the election but he is scared
of the opposition who have been kicking against such.
“This Thursday (tomorrow) meeting will definitely
review INEC’s preparations and take a stand.”
Another Presidency source also informed The PUNCH
that Jonathan might use the opportunity provided by
the meeting to garner support for the postponement of
the polls.
“The Presidency is not resting on its oars concerning the
plan to shift the elections. It is already in talks with
some members of the council,” he said.
On what the Presidency would do if the plan fails, he
replied, “we would opt for another plan, which is to
return to the drawing board; plan a new strategy on
how to deal with our opponents.”
To underscore the importance Jonathan attaches to the
meeting, his re-election campaign rally earlier billed to
hold on Thursday in Yenagoa, the capital of his home
state, Bayelsa, has been put on hold.
It was gathered that the rally might hold later in the day
if the meeting ended on time or be shifted to Friday.
The PUNCH has however learnt that some of the
proponents of election postponement might have
perfected plan to ensure that Jega did not return as
INEC chairman if their plan materialises.
A week-long investigation by one of our correspondents
showed that the Presidency was waiting patiently for
INEC to yield to the pressure before coming out with its
real plan for Jega.
It was gathered that the Presidency and the ruling
Peoples Democratic Party were not ready for the
elections and believed that their chances could be
affected if the elections were held as scheduled.
Because of this, the Presidency, backed by some hawks
in the PDP, are said to be waiting for an auspicious time
to ask the INEC chairman to proceed on terminal leave.
His tenure ends on June 9, 2015.
The PDP source said, “The plan is to discredit the
election by forcing postponement. When this is done,
sponsored people and groups would start asking for the
sack of Jega.
“At this point, the government would then say because
of this, he should proceed on terminal leave and then
ask the most senior national commissioner to take over
and conduct the election.”
Jega’s nomination as INEC chairman followed approval
by a meeting of the Council of State.
Jonathan had said then that he had never known Jega, a
former chairman of the Academic Staff Union of
Universities.
Jega’s candidature for the job was said to have been
facilitated by a presidency top official, Hassan Tukur,
who is from Adamawa State.

source: http://www.punchng.com/news/council-of-state-may-discuss-poll-shift-tomorrow/

He needs the senate and the House (where his party does not even have a majority too)

For this election to be shifted, the presidency needs the APC to want it too

Nonsense ....all proposals at postponing this election has failed.

This election must go on o or else......

As long it will minimize electoral violence dat will be caused by APC it is OK by me.

S