The Red Card Movement has cindemned in the strongest trems the postponement of the presidential/National Assembly elections by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC). The movement in a statement said, “!Nigerians were awoken in the wee hours of today the 16th day of February 2019 and the D-Day for our national elections to the news of a sudden postponement by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC). It came as a shock that INEC that constantly assured the world of its readiness, conveniently announced the postponement of elections just a few hours to the election. Such DISRESPECT of citizens and INSENSITIVITY on the part of INEC, should not be tolerated in a democracy. The INEC chairman is an independent public servant and should be accountable to citizens.
While it was not totally unanticipated as there had been furtive signs of powerful forces from the executive arm of government being at play within the last 72 hours, it is highly unfortunate that INEC has found itself at the centre of a logistics nightmare, that seemed to have been created deliberately by some unseen forces, to forestall elections in certain states that are known to be opposition strongholds while also allowing for security laspes to enable the itinerant merchants of destruction to orchestrate widespread violence of unimaginable proportions for the purpose of delaying and having staggered elections. This is with the benefit of hindsight in respect of the recent massacre of 66 persons in Kaduna.
It is important to put the purveyors of this heinous plot on notice and enunciate in unmistakable terms that these unpatriotic attempts at rigging our national elections will be fully resisted by the good people of Nigeria. INEC and it’s collaborators are lucky with this unpopular action to suddenly postpone the 2019 elections. We appeal to citizens to be calm and be prepared to come in record numbers on Saturday, February 23 to carry out a referendum on Bad Governance, Irresponsible Leadership, Nepotism, Religious Bigotry et al.
We also advice INEC to ensure that the elections are not postponed again, because any further postponement will be a ridicule to our hard earned democracy.
We call on the international community to immediately begin the necessary modalities to issue international arrest warrants on any agents who pervert the electoral process and ensure that they are brought to justice without further ado. Democracy is the global norm. We call on Nigerians and global democrats to arise and resist any attempt by the ruling party in Nigeria or any undemocratic force, to truncate our democracy.
“We call on the INEC chairman to consider tendering his letter of resignation, if he lacks the capacity to operate independently to deliver on his mandate to conduct a free, fair and credible election. The commission should be put on notice that no further postponement will be tolerated. Citizens insistence on on a free, fair and credible election, is sacrosanct.”
