The governorship candidates of the Action Democratic Party (ADP) and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Oyo State, Adebayo Alao-Akala and Oluseyi Makinde respectively, have condemned the postponement of the 2019 elections. In separate statements, they described the postponement as sad and unfortunate. While Makinde accused the All Progressives Congress (APC) of being behind the decision, Akala expressed worry on its cost to Nigerians.
According to Alao-Akala, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) took Nigerians for granted by not caring about the cost of the postponement which was announced at the “last minute”. He said it was a disgraceful and inconsiderate act considering the stress that people had gone through just to have a successful exercise.
His words: “I am sad, it is unfortunate that election will be postponed a few hours to the commencement of the exercise. I am sorry for Nigeria; we should not be on this level at this period. what happens to the manpower already expended and human capital resource? Can you imagine what corp members drafted into the exercise were made to go through? Did they even consider the loss many people will be forced to incur as a result of the unexpected change? Who pays for these losses and inconveniences?
Makinde appealed to foreign observers not to leave the country in frustration, alleging that it was the exact aim the APC wanted to achieve. “In spite of having three years to plan and numerous reassurances up till last week, INEC waited till five hours to the commencement of the election before announcing its cancellation,” he said. He said a huge amount of money had been expended before the exercise was postponed.