postponing election may return military rule-Ex eneral warn

They warned that the "planned" postponement might lead to
anarchy in the country, which, according to them, may lead
to military intervention.
A former Director of Procurement in the Defence
Headquarters, Brigadier-General Ayodele Ojo (retd.), in an
interview with PUNCH, described the recent call made by the
National Security Adviser, Col. Sambo Dasuki, for the general
elections to be postponed as a step towards military rule.
He warned that the suggestion by the NSA for deferment of
the polls is capable of creating a constitutional crisis that can
abort the nation’s democracy.
On Thursday, Dasuki stated that the postponement of next
month’s elections would give INEC more time to distribute
over 30 million outstanding Permanent Voter Cards to
registered voters.
The NSA said rescheduling the elections would cost INEC and
the Federal Government nothing, adding that, “It’s still within
the law.”
However, Ojo said INEC and the Federal Government should
not entertain such a suggestion.
He said, “It is a backward step to the dark days of military
rule when anti-democratic forces, on the eve of the June 12,
1993 presidential poll, were able to secure a dubious
injunction from an Abuja High Court restricting the National
Electoral Commission from conducting the election.
“This singular act was instrumental to the annulment of the
election. It is worrisome that the call, this time around, is
coming from a highly placed security official of the Nigerian
government. Moreover, the reason given for the
postponement is untenable, to say the least.”
The former director at the DHQ added that if the call for a
postponement was based on allowing would-be voters to
collect their PVCs, the Federal Government could consider
declaring a public holiday.
Ojo added, “What I think is required is for the Federal
Government to declare Friday, February 6, 2015 as a work-
free day to enable affected voters the last opportunity to
collect their PVCs.
“INEC could also use that weekend before the presidential
election as a dress rehearsal. This will require INEC to
deploy its entire staff on that Friday and Saturday for the
voters to collect their PVCs from the polling units, where
they are expected to vote the following Saturday of the
presidential election.
“This, I believe, will take care of this problem without resort
to postponing the election, thereby creating unnecessary
and avoidable crises. This suggestion by the NSA is uncalled
for and must be resisted by all Nigerians in order to avoid
plunging the country into self-inflicted crisis.”