BY BENEDICT NWACHUKWU, ABUJA
Executive Director Adopt A Goal Initiative, Ariyo-Dare Atoye has advised those misconstruing the decision of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to adjust the timeline of the electioneering processes by extending the deadline as partisanship to eschew such thoughts.
In an interview with The Point, Atoye said the managers of the electoral body had remained resolute on their grounds not to shift the deadline given to political parties and their aspirants only to accommodate the request of the Inter Party Advisory Council (IPAC) bordering on the conduct of the primaries yet to be conducted.
“There is always enough time for the political parties to do what is right, but never enough windows to manipulate the process; the extension of INEC’s deadline by six days would still never be enough for these parties.
“Although INEC had insisted it would never shift the deadline given to the political parties to conduct their primaries, but the latest adjustment should not be seen as a partisan move because, all the parties are going to need it one way or the other to address the spillover of the poor conduct of primaries.
“Although the APC has capitalised on the latest adjustment to shift its Presidential convention, while the PDP had already commenced its process and was unable to change the date, nevertheless, we should not be apprehensive of the commission’s neutrality.
“Ekiti and Osun States’ off-cycle governorship elections should be the basis of further assessing INEC’s commitment to free, fair, credible and transparent elections ahead of 2023 and not an arrangement that is internal to the political parties.
“This postponement by the APC will never ease the tension in the party; rather, it would aggravate the agitation within and increase the tendency of false hopes among aspirants,” he said.
