It is no longer news that Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has rescheduled the February 16 and March 2 elections. The Presidential and National Assembly elections earlier scheduled to hold on February 16 will take place on February 23, while governorship and State Assembly will hold on March 9, 2019.
What is news right now is what Nigerians are talking about. The talking point understandably is the postponement and it is laced with anger and disappointment. And that’s because INEC has not been able to break down its “logistics” issues.
Equally annoying is the fact that the information came in the wee hours of the election day.
As usual, Nigerians have taken to Twitter to express their opinions.
@OlisaOsega
“Someone out there fixed his/her wedding on the 23rd of February, INEC just ruined that.”
@SirLeoBDasilva
“Who has One Job every Four years and still fails to do it correctly?
INEC.”
@ChNnadozie
“No serious country postpones an election with just 5hrs to voting. INEC has failed.”
@Stunner_Guy
“INEC had all the time to put everything/process in order and they still FAILED!
Just imagine all the time they had, all the resources wasted and they still ended up doing radarada
It is quite a shame that the little faith people had in the system is incessantly diminishing.”
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@Osi_Sauve
“Inec had 4 years plus a budget of 186billion
It’s ridiculous to say the least that you are postponing an election a few hours before it is scheduled to start
Nigeria”
We need to do better.
Do corps members get paid for this extra INEC work at all?
Im so concerned for their well being as nobody should be put in harms way cos they are serving their country.”
@Bobolicious
“INEC had 48hrs to postpone this elections but no, they had to wait for 4hrs before election to do so. What did they use the past 32 months to do? Not like I’m surprised they did but my question is, why wait till the time they did.”
@DtUdiBoy
“Who did we offend in this country?
• People are supposed to get married next week but INEC didn’t consider this before moving the election to 23rd
• What about people that traveled hoping to vote today
• @inecnigeria what happened to the funds meant to take care of Corpers?”
@MrTosinDurodola
“The leadership of INEC should just resign. This is gross incompetence. You had 3 years to prepare. What happens to those Corpers you put in poor conditions overnight? What happens to those that travelled to vote? This is sordid, awful & totally unacceptable.”
@DrKhalidz
“Did INEC even consider that people travelled long distances just so they could exercise their civic duties this Saturday?! This is insane.”
@is_salsu
“Do you know that it is better to postpone than to stagger this election? Let’s shun our grievances and tell ourselves the truth. It will cost us more if this election is staggered due to sensitive materials not being in some States. I Stand with INEC on this change!”
@AishaSalaudeen
“People have risked their time and resources to travel to vote, schools have shut down and journalists have gotten spots all over the country to live report. You had years to plan this INEC. PISSED ASF!”
@Pinkbee_
“INEC you had 4 good years to prepare for this election. You subjected corpers to this harsh cold weather. Some of us were forced to do it by our LGI. We slept on the bare floor. No proper arrangements were made. If I no do clearance in March I no care. I’m not doing election.”
@UgwunnaEjikem
“INEC had all the time to announce this postponement yet they did it after most voters had traveled to vote
Most would have to return to their biz/work but won’t travel again to vote
In case y’all don’t know, PMB has taken the first big step in rigging this elections.
Tragic!”
@collekrix
“Why?
This is wickedness
we shouldn’t take this lightly.
Inec is doing this on purpose to discourage us.
Too bad”
@Eccentric_sky
“In some other countries, they won’t ever pull this stunt because there are people willing to go and burn down the inec office and murder the chairman.
But Nigeria, watch as we accept this like we accept every other shit that happens.”
@_olayinka
“Seriously something big is behind this!
DIDN’T INEC SAY THEY WERE READY AND HAVE EVERYTHING UNDER CONTROL.
INEC WE WILL HOLD YOU RESPONSIBLE IF NIGERIA IS SET ON FIRE.”
@Moechivious
“People made plans around this election. Many travelled long distances. But @inecnigeria waited for a few hours to election to determine that they were not ready to conduct elections.
This is actually a big disgrace and an extremely bad sign.
This government cannot even ensure that INEC conducts a proper election and we are supposed to trust them with another 4 years of our lives.
F9 parallel.
I mean who postpones elections 3 hours to when polls are due to open? When we aren’t living in a failed state.”
@auntypelz
“If when you decide to not give a fuck about Nigeria, you’ll still be stressed. Schools gave holidays, people travelled, y’all had since 2015 to plan but still INEC still postponed on the same day of election. People that fixed their weddings to 23rd nko? SMH”
@Dezi_Edmund
“INEC had one job.
How about Nigerians who had travelled to different states?
Corpers sleeping on the floor all over the country.
They cancelled elections in the early hours of the election day.
Is it that they don’t want voters to come out & vote?”
@tosinededa
“The activities of an entire country grinds to a halt because an election and INEC has the guts to come tell us on election day that it’s been postponed?? We don’t rate ourselves as Nigerians, incompetence is engrained in the DNA of Nigeria.”