Olugbon berates INEC over postponement of general elections

The Olugbon of Orile-Igbon, Oba Francis Alao has condemned the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) following the body’s postponement of the general elections earlier scheduled for today, February 16.

Oba Alao accused the INEC of insensitivity to the implications of the postponement, which was announced in the early hours of today by the INEC Chairman, Professor Mahmood Yakubu in Abuja.

He said the actions had exposed the ineptitude of both the electoral body and federal government in understanding the pains which it would cause millions of Nigerians and foreigners resident in the country, pointing out that the postponement amounted to taking Nigerians for granted.

“Can they quantify the cost of this postponement on businesses and time which this last minute postponement has caused the people? This is evidence of unreliability and lack of respect to the Nigerian electorate. This action has made us a laughing stock to serious-minded countries of the world, who have
expected so much on these elections,” he noted.

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Oba Alao also stressed that being a first class traditional ruler, he is duty bound like other leading Nigerians to speak up with a view to showing the masses’ dissatisfaction to the decision, calling on Nigerians to rise up to the occasion and tell the INEC never to disrespect them again,” he said.

The monarch also picked a hole in the official statement by the INEC, describing it as lacking no feelings for the disappointment it had inflicted on the electorate, adding that the statement implies that Nigerian electorate are not important in the reckoning of the INEC.

“I am baffled to read that statement and see no line of remorse in it. This is not fair. Nigerians don’t deserve this type of treatment. A simple apology could have assuaged their feelings to show understanding. Leadership is about followership, and when you are given a national assignment as this, the leader must know how important the electorate are in achieving the result. I am saying this in my capacity as a leader and patriotic Nigerian,” he stated.