Nigeria 2019 Election Postponed By The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) which has announced the postponement of the Presidential and National Assembly elections slated for Saturday 16th February to 23rd February 2019.
The announcement was made earlier this morning at about 2:40am to press men
Breaking News: The #NigeriaDecides2019 Elections now to hold on; 23rd February, 2019 for Presidential and National Assembly while the Governorship, State House of Assembly and the FCT Area Council Elections is to hold on 9th March, 2019. pic.twitter.com/6zhvBLQe2a
— INEC Nigeria (@inecnigeria) February 16, 2019
The Nigeria 2019 Election Postponed which was announced by the Independent National Electoral Commission chairman Mahmood Yakubu, said proceeding as previously scheduled was not feasible.
He said the delay was needed to hold a free and fair election.
“The commission came to the conclusion that proceeding with the election as scheduled is no longer feasible. Consequently the commissioners decided to reschedule the presidential and national assembly elections to Saturday 23 February 2019,” he said.
It was one of the decisions reached early today in a crunch talk between INEC chairman, Professor Mahmood Yakubu and 12 national commissioners in Abuja, according to sources close to the meeting.
The chairman of INEC, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, who read a five-paragraph statement by 2:50 am on Saturday morning attributed the decision to logistic reasons, but refused to entertain any question.
He said,
“The Independent National Electoral Commission met on Friday, February 15, 2019, and reviewed its preparations for the 2019 General Elections scheduled for Saturday, February 16 2019 and Saturday, March 2 2019.
“Following a careful review of the implementation of its logistics and operational plan and the determination to conduct free, fair and credible elections, the commission came to the conclusion that proceeding with the elections as scheduled is no longer feasible.
“Consequently, the commission has decided to reschedule the Presidential and National Assembly Elections to Saturday, February 23 2019. Furthermore, the Governorship, State House of Assembly and Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Area Council Elections is rescheduled to Saturday, March 9 2019. This will afford the commission the opportunity to address identified challenges in order to maintain the quality of our elections.
“This was a difficult decision for the commission to take, but necessary for the successful delivery of the elections and the consolidation of our democracy.
“The commission will meet key stakeholders to update them on this development at 2pm on Saturday 16 (today) February 2019 at the Abuja International Conference Centre.”