INEC Reverses Self, Postpones Edo Guber Poll By 2 Weeks
Mahmood Yakubu, INEC Chairman[/caption]
Barely 5 hours after the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) said it will not postpone the September 10 governorship election in Edo State, The Whistler can report that the commission has reversed itself on the conduct of the poll.
The Police and State Security Service had raised the alarm on Wednesday that they cannot guarantee the security of the election over security fears and had called for the poll to be rescheduled.
According to the two agencies, there was “credible intelligence” indicating a plot by hoodlums to attack residents and disrupt the polls.
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But early Thursday afternoon, the INEC had said it rejected the security advisory stressing that it would not be “teleguided”.
However, as at the time it was insisting on going ahead with the poll, it had suspended delivery of critical polling materials as the various security agencies had withdrawn their personnel from the INEC.
The latest development, The Whistler learnt, is from pressure from the highest echelon of the government who are afraid the ruling APC in the state could possibly lose.
Our source who asked not to be named as he was not permitted to speak on the matter, said a lot of pressure has been brought to bear on the INEC management, therefore the reversal on the earlier position to go on with the poll.
