Olusegun Dada

Many Nigerians were still asleep when the chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Professor Mahmood Yakubu, went on national TV to make the shocking announcement of the postponement of the February 16 and March 2 elections, just a few hours before the opening of the polls.

The presidential, Senate and House of Representatives polls earlier slated for February 16 have now been shifted to February 23 while elections for the governorship and state Houses of Assembly have been shifted to March 9.

The INEC chairman attributed the postponement mainly to logistics challenges in deploying human and material resources to some states for the conduct of the elections. He also cited bad weather and violence as major causes of the postponement.

Truly, cases of violent disruptions occasioned by the fire were recorded at INEC’s offices in Isiala Ngwa South Local Government Area of Abia State, Qu’an Pan Local Government Area of Plateau State and Awka in Anambra State, and this saw the destruction of thousands of Permanent Voters Cards (PVCs). Cases of stealing of ballots papers, smart card readers, and other election materials were also recorded.

After the postponement, the major opposition party, the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), accused the All Progressives Congress (APC) as sponsors of the acts of violence against the INEC, in order to sabotage and influence the elections in their favour.

On careful analysis, PDP’s accusation carries no weight and is totally dismissible because it is quite illogical that the APC, which did not resort to violence back in 2015 in order to win the elections, would do so in order to win this time around.

With this cheap and baseless accusation leveled against the APC, it is obviously evident that the PDP is desperate to get back to power at all cost and by any means necessary. Who knows whether the PDP is actually the party sponsoring violent acts against the INEC, with the sole aim of sabotaging and influencing the elections in their own favour?

Nigerians should be wary of PDP’s dirty tactics now more than ever ahead of the polls which have been rescheduled to hold on February 23 and March 9, and should also be careful not to make the mistake of voting them back into power.

Here are valid reasons for this: Voting the PDP back into power would basically mean Nigerians are giving their consent to PDP to draw the country backward, instead of forward, as the APC has been doing well in the past three and a half years under the leadership of President Muhammadu Buhari. The PDP will not only make futile all the efforts made by Buhari at fighting corruption and poverty since his ascension to power in 2015, but it will also disrupt all the positive changes implemented in the country so far.

Moreover, it is no longer news that Buhari has been recovering all the funds stolen when PDP was in power. It is also not strange to see that Buhari’s anti-corruption fight has not seated well with the PDP. So, if care is not taken, voting them back into power would grant them the opportunity to re-loot all the funds Buhari has spent quality time and effort to recover for the purpose of reviving Nigeria’s economy.

The 2019 presidential election is a choice between going back to Egypt and moving forward to the next level. It is also a choice of whom Nigerians can trust with their money.

According to statistics, the Buhari-led administration has done more in three and a half years with fewer resources than the PDP with all the monies that accrued to the nation in 16 years. Four years is not enough to fix PDP’s many years of damage to Nigeria, and also not enough for Nigerians to fully feel the effects of Buhari’s positive change.

Therefore, four more years is not too much to ask to fully consolidate the positive change that has been initiated by Buhari for the long-term benefit of Nigerians.

Nigerians must reject the PDP come Saturday, February 23, and make the right choice for the advancement of the nation, and that right choice is President Muhammadu Buhari of the APC.

Segun Dada, a media professional, writes from Abeokuta, Ogun State.