The ruling All Progressives (APC) is pushing for the postponement of the 2023 general elections by a minimum of four weeks, according to a report by Daily Independent.
The newspaper quoted credible sources in the party to have informed it that the move was being spearheaded by Governor Nasir el-Rufai of Kaduna State.
However, the Atiku Abubakar Presidential Campaign Council, according to the report, rejected the move, saying anyone seeking a shift in the date of the elections was an enemy of Nigeria.
Meanwhile, THE CONCLAVE had reported on Tuesday that the National Council of State would meet on Friday, February 10 to assess the state of preparedness by the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, for the elections through the brief by the Commission’s chairman, Prof Mahmood Yakubu.
The Council is also scheduled to appraise the security situation in the country through the brief by the Inspector-General of Police, Usman Baba.
The Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, governor, Mr Gidwin Emefiele is scheduled to give the Council an update on the implementation of the currency redesign policy.
Recall that the CBN governor had fixed Friday, February 10 as deadline for the validity of the old naira notes.
He had, after meeting with Buhari, following the hue and cry about the scarcity of the new notes, insisted that the February 10 deadline was sacrosanct in spite of huge pressures by some powerful Nigerians to have the deadline extended.
But the Nigerian masses are interested in the availability of the new currency notes and not in the extension of the deadline to enable them manage their “poverty”.
The scarcity of the new notes has precipitated protests in Oyo, Ogun, Edo and Delta states among others.
The Council of State is expected to appraise the totality of the situations- INEC’s preparedness for the polls, security situation and implementation of currency redesign- and take the critical decision on the propriety or otherwise of proceeding with the elections as scheduled.
THE CONCLAVE reports that there are feelers that the ruling APC is working towards ensuring a shift in the election dates to enable it do some housekeeping especially in relation to the implementation of the currency redesign policy that has constituted a drsg on funding of the electioneering and other activities.
A minimum of two to four weeks postponement in the election dates is being proposed, which the cruling APC seeks to use some members of the Council of State to push through at the Friday meeting.
Recall that in 2015 and 2019, INEC had postponed the general elections at those intersections by two weeks to address security and logistics issues respectively.
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