Postpone Edo Election, Police, DSS Tell INEC

For fear of possible breach of security
and attack on citizens, the Nigeria Police
and the Department of State Services
(DSS) have called on the Independent
National Electoral Commission (INEC)
postpone the September 10, 2016
governorship election in Edo State.
The security agencies said the call
follows credible intelligence available to
them which indicate that there may be
terror attacks during next week’s Sallah
holidays, particularly in Edo State.
The electoral umpire, INEC, however said
yesterday that it was yet to get a formal
security report from the security
agencies calling for the postponement of
Saturday’s election.
According to the Force Public Relations
Officer, DCP Don Awunah, and his DSS
counterpart, Tony Opuiyo, who was
represented by Garba Abdullahi, at a
briefing in Abuja yesterday, it was in the
light of the intelligence gathered that the
appeal for the postponement of the
election became pertinent.
DCP Awunah, in a statement he read
during the briefing, said: “The Nigeria
Police and the DSS wish to inform the
general public that credible intelligence
availed to the agencies indicate plans by
insurgent/extremist elements to attack
vulnerable communities and soft targets
with high populations during the
forthcoming Sallah celebrations between
September 12 and 13, 2016.
“Edo State is among the states being
earmarked for these planned attacks by
the extremist elements. It is in regard of
this that we are appealing to INEC,
which has legal duty to regulate
elections in the country, to consider the
need for possible postponement of the
date of the election in Edo State in order
to enable security agencies deal
decisively with the envisaged terrorists
threats.
“While the police/DSS remain mindful of
the inconveniences this request may
cause the various political stakeholders,
it is our strong resolve that security
agencies need not be distracted from
ensuring a peaceful and secure Nigeria
now and always.”
The security agencies, however, assured
members of the public that they will
continue to remain focused and
committed to their security.
INEC’s deputy director, Voter Education
and Publicity (VEP), Mr Nick Dazang,
noted that the electoral commission had
no official communication from any of
the security agencies relating to the
postponement of the polls.
He further said that INEC had just
concluded a stakeholders’ meeting in Edo
State, and that the commission’s
chairman, Professor Mahmood Yakubu,
was planning to make another visit to
the state to finalise plans ahead of the
polls.
“As a matter of fact, we got the
information from the media. Some of
your colleagues have been calling; that’s
how we got to know about it.
“We’ve just finished stakeholders’
meeting there. The chairman and other
national commissioners are meeting here.
Maybe subsequently, we will have an
idea. In fact, we will have to confirm the
veracity of that statement,” he declared.
PDP kicks, advises against false alarm
The Senator Ahmed Makarfi-led Peoples
Democratic Party (PDP) leadership
yesterday kicked against the call by the
police and DSS for the postponement of
Saturday’s Edo State governorship
election on grounds of an insurgency
alert, describing it as a false alarm.
The opposition party, therefore, called on
President Muhammadu Buhari to call the
security agencies to order, stressing that
it was taken aback that the alert came a
day after he (the president) attended a
rally of his party, the All Progressives
Congress (APC) in Benin City, which was
concluded without any hitch.
A statement by PDP’s national publicity
secretary, Prince Dayo Adeyeye, advised
INEC not to succumb to the alarm.
The party wondered why the security
agencies saw no reason to call off a
recently conducted Senatorial by-election
in Borno State, which is a high-point of
insurgency in the country.
“Our attention has been drawn to the
shocking breaking news of the advise by
the DSS and the Police to INEC to
postpone the Saturday, September 10,
2016 gubernatorial election in Edo State
on the excuse of insurgency alert.
“We are taken aback by this advise
coming a day after the president and
commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces
of the Federal Republic of Nigeria,
Muhammadu Buhari was present at the
mega rally of its party, the APC, in Benin
City, which was concluded without any
hitch.
“It is on record that INEC recently
conducted a ‘hitch free’ Senatorial By-
Election in Borno State which is a high-
point of insurgency in the country but
the security agencies saw no reason to
call-off the election. It is therefore
lamentable to hear from these same
security agencies that election cannot be
held in a state where in less than 24
hours, the president and all the APC
leaders and members had an
uninterrupted rally.
“We are calling on the President,
Muhammadu Buhari to caution the
security agencies and direct them to
provide full security and also to desist
from doing anything that will jeopardise
this forthcoming gubernatorial election in
Edo State. We are equally counting on
INEC not to succumb to this false alarm
by acting independently and holding
election as scheduled.
“We hope that this advise from the
security agencies is not in concert with
the APC, having seen the indices of
losing the Edo State gubernatorial
election to the PDP,” the party stated.
The Senator Makarfi-led PDP called on
its members, supporters, other Edo voters
and the international community to
remain law-abiding “while staying alert on
this calculated attempt at scuttling our
hard-earned democracy.”
Also in a reaction yesterday, the PDP
governorship candidate in the election,
Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu, accused the
APC of being behind the call for the
postponement of the election, using what
he termed “DSS and police fake security
report.”
According to him, the APC had developed
cold feet because he had established a
comfortable lead over its (APC’s)
candidate, Godwin Obaseki, according to
A new opinion poll conducted by a media
research and marketing organisation,
Samrex Communications Ltd.
Data from the survey supervised by Dr
Ubani Azuka, and released on Tuesday,
showed that the lead which Obaseki had
enjoyed in Edo North had hugely
declined, compared to the last survey.
The report said that the survey, which
targeted 23,000 respondents cut across
the three senatorial districts, was carried
out between August 1 and September 2,
2016.
The latest report by the organisation,
which targeted likely voters by telephone
and online survey in the three senatorial
districts – Edo South, Edo Central and
Edo North – showed Ize-Iyamu to have
the support of 75 per cent of the
electorate in Edo South, 77 per cent in
Edo Central, and 47 per cent in Edo
North versus 25 per cent, 22 per cent
and 53 per cent of the respondents who
said they supported Obaseki.
The survey said that many of the
respondents based their decision on the
neglect of their communities, unfulfilled
promises by the government, huge
corruption within the state government,
high cost of living, bad roads and
abandoned projects in their areas.
On the other hand, those who promised
to vote for the APC generally based their
decision on the renovation of schools;
the promise to build industries to
generate income and create jobs; loans
to farmers and small scale business
owners and provision of potable water
and youth empowerment.
They also said they wanted somebody
who would sustain Governor Adams
Oshiomhole’s legacies.