INEC Bows to Pressure, Postpones Edo Election

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) on Tuesday bowed to pressure from the nation’s security agencies and postponed the Edo State governorship election by two weeks.

The INEC National Commissioner, Voter Education and Publicity, Prince Solomon Soyebi, said the election earlier scheduled to hold tomorrow had to be countermanded because of concerns expressed by the security agencies.

He told journalists at a news conference last night at the commission’s state headquarters in Benin City that the election would now hold on Wednesday, September 28, 2016.
Soyebi said: “At 6.00pm today, we received official communication from the police and DSS, drawing our attention to the need to postpone the Edo governorship election.

Such a postponement, the communication indicates, is necessary in view of threats of terrorist activities in Edo and other states of the federation during the election and over the Sallah period. The deployment of security personnel countrywide to secure lives and property would outstretch their capacity to at the same time provide adequate security for the elections.