We Are Ready For Saturday Elections-Hadiza Bala Usman

The APC Presidential Campaign Council has said that only the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) can say whether the rescheduled Presidential election will go ahead as scheduled, saying the APC were ready for the election.

Director of Contact and Mobilization, APC presidential campaign council, Hadiza Bala Usman who spoke after inspecting the election situation room of a civil society group, Yiaga in Abuja also seek collaboration between political parties and civil society group to monitor the workings of INEC and ensuring that electoral materials get to their destination on schedule.

She said “It’s important for APC as a political party to engage with civil society, to see what civil society is doing to ensure a free and fair election. We are keen to have a transparent, free and fair election. So, we encourage observers, we encourage any form of interrogation of the process.

“I am here to lend the voice of the APC to show encouragement to the civil society and to encourage them to ensure that whatever is happening at the polling unit are highlighted for the world to see and whatever incidences  happen are brought up for the necessary agencies to deal with. We want the security agencies to be on ground to provide the necessary support, where INEC is required to deploy additional input and we believe that such situation rooms are very helpful and necessary for such feedbacks

This is an election situation room, would you have preferred something to the run up of the election?

“With what has happened and with the postponement of the election, I think pre-election day situation room is important so that we can see where our materials are in the country? Have they started been moved to the necessary voting points? Are the right materials being deployed to the right places? So such pre-election situation rooms are important.

It is important for us and the political parties, for APC and indeed civil society groups to put a spotlight on the election monitor to ensure that this postponement that happened will not be repeated again and for us to monitor and follow Election material. You are all aware that some of the critical errors around voter concern has to do with election materials, if the especially sensitive ones fall into the wrong hands. We are open to any form of manipulation and so, it’s imperative that we put a spotlight and follow the sensitive material, follow what INEC is doing.

One of the presidential candidate is asking INEC to extend the rescheduled election beyond this Saturday, what is the view of APC?

“Our view is that INEC knows what it’s doing and they the determinant of whether it is ready for Saturday. INEC conveyed to all Nigerians that it is ready to conduct the elections on Saturday. So we look forward to see what INEC will say next.  For us in APC, we were ready for the election on Saturday 16 and we are indeed ready for Saturday 23rd. We look forward to INEC briefing us as we requested on a daily basis to ensure that materials are deployed anf in the right place at the right time. Ad I mentioned earlier, INEC is the umpire, and will tell us whether there is any additional postponement. But we are ready for Saturday the 23rd of February.”

The nation

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