Eniola Yekini
The Presidency has dismissed claims that the Federal Government is planning to postpone the January 16 election, describing the allegations as fake news.
Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, said the government has no plan to alter the election date.
“The federal government is not planning to shift the date of the election or postpone any election. This is not in the works; the federal government is unaware of this, and this is just fake news as far as we are concerned,” Idris said.
His response followed an allegation by the African Democratic Congress Presidential Campaign Council, ADC-PCC, that there was a plot to pressure the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, to change the timetable.
The ADC-PCC had alleged that INEC Chairman, Prof. Joash Amupitan, could be summoned to the Presidential Villa and directed to shift the election date with about 80 days to the poll.
In a statement by its Director of Strategic Communication, Phrank Shaibu, the council called on President Bola Tinubu to distance himself from any move to postpone the election and urged the INEC chairman to reject any such directive and make it public.
“The election date belongs to Nigerians. It must not be rewritten behind closed doors at the Villa,” the council said.
The council argued that Nigerians should be allowed to determine the fate of the administration through the ballot box, citing economic hardship, rising prices and pressure on household incomes.
“A government that has made life this difficult for Nigerians must not be allowed to postpone its day of judgment,” it said.
On concerns about Ebola, the council said a public health emergency would require appropriate measures but insisted the disease should not be used to interfere with the election timetable without clear medical justification.
It cited a position attributed to the Director-General of the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control, NCDC, indicating no current reason to postpone the election, and maintained that any change on health grounds should be backed by verifiable medical evidence.
“The Presidency must not use a health emergency to escape an electoral verdict,” it added.
The council also urged INEC, local observers and international monitors to closely watch developments that could affect the poll and insisted that any proposal to alter the date should be made public.
As of press time, INEC had not issued an official response to the allegation.
Meanwhile, the House of Representatives has resolved to invite INEC to brief its relevant committee on preparedness for the 2027 general elections.
The resolution followed a motion by Mansur Manu Soro and Abdussamad Dasuki on operational challenges facing the commission. The motion was amended to require INEC to appear within seven legislative days with a comprehensive assessment of its readiness.