As many Nigerians continued to react on the rescheduling of the election dates, the former Public Relations Officer, Save Nigeria Freight Forwarders, Importers and Exporters Coalition (SNIFFIEC), Mr. David Pius has okayed the shift in the dates describing it as a welcomed development.
It will be recalled that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) last Saturday rescheduled the Presidential and the National Assembly polls from the 14th of February, 2015 to the 28th of March, 2015 and the Governorship and the State Houses of Assembly polls from the 28th of February, 2015 to the 11th of April, 2015.
David who was speaking in an exclusive interview with Primetime Reporters in Lagos stated that had the INEC gone ahead with the elections as earlier scheduled, many political parties would have boycotted the polls which may ultimately result in endless litigations.
He opined that with the rescheduling of the elections, it would allow more rooms for most Nigerians who were yet to collect their Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) to do so within the available period as well as allow INEC to perfect their planning for free, fair and credible poll in March and April.
David who is also the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Uburu Maritime Limited observed that the two major concerns raised leading to the postponement of the 2015 general elections which were the non collection of PVCs by most Nigerians and the security situation in the North Eastern part of the country were cogent enough to do so.
“Why I said that it is a welcomed development is because if after the elections on the previous dates as declared by INEC and you have other people who are not satisfied, by that I mean other political parties who feel that there should have been a level playing ground, it may not augur well for the country”.
“Some may say they were not party to the election, some may go to court and when you go to court, the court will also give its own judgment which may affect the entire process “, he said.
He however refuted the claims that the issue of the non availability of the military to provide support for the INEC in the said election was a ploy by the ruling People’s Democratic Party (PDP) to get the INEC to shift the elections arguing that it would not be right to go on with the election with a section of the country at war.
On the allegation that the Lagos State government in connivance with INEC was denying the non indigenes of the state access to their PVCs, he said,” I am a Nigerian, I don’t want to be sentimental here because some of my staff who registered here in 2011 have collected theirs and they are Igbos and I know that some other people who are Igbos have not collected theirs. A lot of people have collected too”.
“So, I would not say that the APC (All Progressives Congress) led government of Lagos state have had any discussions with INEC in order to withhold the PVCs of the Igbos who have registered in Lagos. I don’t agree with that information”.
