BY BRIGHT JACOB
The Arewa Youth Assembly has called for the suspension of the general elections scheduled to hold in the country on February 25 and March 11, 2023.
The northern group made up of youths from the 19 northern states and the Federal Capital Territory, on Tuesday, called for the suspension because of the lingering fuel scarcity and naira crunch in the country.
According to the speaker of the group, Muhammad Danlabi, in a statement made available to newsmen in Kaduna state, it was necessary the election was also suspended to allow menial workers from the north in other parts of the country, return home to vote.
The group further said that harmless, innocent Nigerians would be prone to attacks during the election, judging by the increasing spate of carnage and attacks on banks and security personnel and formations in the South East and South West, respectively.
The group also said that it didn’t want to deny Nigerians the privilege of voting who would be in charge of the country for the next four years, hence the call for the suspension of “all processes leading to the election.”
The statement reads, “It has become imperative for the Arewa Youth Assembly to call for the immediate suspension of the 2023 general elections to enable Nigerians, especially menial workers from our region who are all over the country in search of greener pastures to return to where they registered to vote.
“We are worried that even those in the city, whose polling units are far away from their homes, won’t be able to transport themselves to cast their votes.”
Continuing, the statement said, “We are particularly worried over the increasing spate of carnage and attacks on security formations in the South East and other private businesses in the South West part of the country.
“If security personnel and formations and banks can be attacked with ease, what more of harmless innocent Nigerians?
“In order not to deny Nigerians the privilege of electing who will be in charge of our beloved country in the next four years, we wish to call on the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission to suspend all processes leading to the election,” the statement added.
