NO TO POSTPONEMENT OF 2015 POLL

23^rd January, 2015

PRESS RELEASE:

NO TO POSTPONEMENT OF 2015 POLL

The National Security Adviser, Sambo Dasuki, yesterday called for the postponement of the February 2015 election. Dasuki made the call in the United Kingdom while speaking at the London think-tank Chatham House.

The Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC) rejects this diversionary and unpatriotic request. The whole idea of a possible postponement smacks of moral debauchery. We hinge our rejection on the following reasons:

1.  any suggestion for a postponement coming from one party to the exclusion of others must be viewed with suspicion;

2.  the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has not made such a request, instead, it has repeatedly given assurances of a hitch-free election;

3.  any contemplation of postponement will send the wrong signals to the international community that Nigeria is yet to get it right;

4.  postponement means additional cost as well as unimaginable logistic challenges nationwide;

5.  delay is dangerous in a volatile nation like Nigeria where electoral violence is already on the rise and finally

6.  postponement is a potential satanic motivation for actualizing the alleged plot for a military takeover by army officers who are allies of the ruling party or give advocatus diaboli both within and outside enough time for a grand conspiracy against our dear country.

With Sambo Dasuki’s call for a postponement of Nigeria’s general elections which is less than three weeks away, the National Security Adviser has donned the garb of a confusionist.

His call shows that the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) is in disarray. They have seen the handwriting on the wall. With excited mammoth crowds attending opposition rallies, with unenthusiastic rented crowds at the rallies of the ruling party, with party chieftains and their followers leaving the ruling party in droves at the eleventh hour, Dasuki is embarking on damage-control tactics. But it is too late. The ruling party has crossed the Rubicon.

The last nail in PDP’s coffin was the failure of the ruling party to discredit General Muhammadu Buhari of the All People’s Congress (APC), particularly over the certificate saga.

Sambo Dasuki’s excuse that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) needs more time to ensure all qualified Nigerians receive cards for the vote is lame, deceitful and untenable.

The electoral body has assured the nation times without number that all eligible voters will get their permanent voters’ cards (PVC) before the election. How can Dasuki know INEC more than INEC itself? We have no iota of doubt that Dasuki has a hidden agenda. This man is stalling.

MURIC strongly advises INEC to ignore Dasuki’s attempt at procrastination. We remind the electoral body that procrastination is the thief of time. We also remind INEC that it has a name to protect. Its honour is at stake and any attempt to compromise will rob the electoral body of its hard-earned integrity.

The ruling party’s time is up. This is why it is bent on stealing the nation’s time. Nigerians must jealously guard against this.

We advise President Jonathan to seek the path of honour and a soft landing out of Aso Rock. Seeking tenure extension through the backdoor is out of the question. It is an additional proof of cluelessness. True democrats allow vox populi via one man one vote. Tenure extension was first attempted during the National Conference but it was rejected. Now he is making another frantic effort to smuggle it into the electoral exercise.

Mr. President repeatedly assured Nigerians that 2015 election was sacrosanct. So why is he seeking a postponement? Nigerians cannot trust a president who will not walk his talk. It is a matter of integrity. We said it severally before that this president cannot organize a free and fair election.

A man who installed somebody who scored 16 as chairman of Governors Forum and persecuted the other who scored 19 cannot be expected to do better. We cannot expect fairness from a man who gave 203 to Christians and 189 to Muslims during the last National Conference. The words ‘fairness’, ‘justice’ and ‘equity’ are missing in Aso Rock’s vocabulary.

MURIC has a pertinent question to ask Jonathan. Mr. President, Sir, how can we believe in your campaign promises when you are already shifting the goal-post few days to the election?

The Glorious Qur’an commits mankind to the fulfillment of promises and leaders must take the lead. The Qur’an says, “Keep your promises” (Qur’an 17:34); “Keep pledges made before Allah” (Qur’an 16:91).

In the language which President Jonathan can fully understand, the Bible frowns upon failure to keep promises. Numbers 30:2 says, “When a man vows a vow to the Lord, or swears an oath to bind himself by a pledge, he shall not break his word; he shall do according to all that proceeds from his mouth”.

In conclusion, MURIC charges President Jonathan to stand by his words and keep to the February 15 2015 date of the general elections. We advise INEC to ignore Sambo Dasuki’s request for a postponement. We call on the international community to keep an eye on President Jonathan as he plots to sabotage democracy.

Professor Ishaq Akintola,

Director,

Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC)