INEC Must Explain TMG Condemns Postponement Of General Elections

Eniola Olayemi

Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has a lot of explaining to do about why it postponed Nigeria’s general elections, the Transition Monitoring Group (TMG) said on Saturday.
Chairperson of the TMG, Dr Abiola Akiode-Afolabi, said this about nine hours after the nation’s electoral body postponed the elections by a week.

The last-minute decision by INEC has been widely condemned and the TMG, which together with other observer groups deployed more than 4,000 across the country is “totally disappointed”.

Decrying the limited explanation provided by the electoral umpire, Dr Akiode-Afolabi, called for an audit of the process.

“We have a right to know, INEC must explain the reason for this postponement of elections,” she said, calling for an audit of the process.

Twenty years after Nigeria’s return to civil rule, Dr Akiode-Afolabi is concerned that logistic challenges continue to dog the electoral process.

“This has happened before in 2011, in 2015, it has happened during this circle of elections. We are concerned because 20 years after 1999, we are still having the same logistical problems and, unfortunately, INEC did not explicitly tell us the reason why they are postponing the elections,” she said.

“We are totally disappointed, we are shattered because we have spent a lot of money to bring people together, international observers are here, so there is the political economy of the whole thing and that is why we are calling for an audit. We have a right to know as citizens of Nigeria.”