Confab Delegate Urges FG, INEC to Postpone 2015 Elections for At Least 18 Months

The Federal Government and the Independent National Electoral Commission have been urged to postpone the 2015 general and Presidential elections for at least eighteen months.

A Delegate representing the South South geo-political zone of Nigeria at the ongoing National Conference, Chief Okon Osung made the proposition in Abuja yesterday. Mr. Osung is also member of Committee on Public Finance and Revenue, a former Chairman, Nigeria Election Monitoring Group for the June 12, 1993, the former National Vice President of the Nigeria Union of Journalists.

According to him, the upcoming February 2015 elections could not be held with the current security challenges Nigeria is facing: Boko Haram engaging in killings and abduction of innocent persons, wanton destruction of property. It has become imperative for Nigeria to have a declaration of a Presidential or National Assembly political-administrative moratorium. The delay of the elections, Osung said, would be helpful in establishing security and peace in the country, while if the present crises in the country were not properly managed before the elections, the probability for military intervention is high.

He reminded that at the 1979 elections, the defunct Unity Party of Nigeria was a very strong opposition to the defunct National Party of Nigeria and noted that now there is a similar standoff between the All Progressives Congress and the Peoples Democratic Party.

Mr. Ogung pointed out in his speech that such critical moments occur not only in developing nations such as Nigeria but also in the evolution of advanced industrialized countries.

Source: Legit.ng