"Don't crucify Attahiru Jega yet"- IBB

Former military leader, General Ibrahim Babangida has said that the postponement did not come to him as a surprise considering the short time available to the electoral body to prepare for the elections. He however said that rather than crucify the INEC chairman, Nigerians should commend him for owning up to the discrepancies and inadequacies of his commission. The former military leader said that by the fourth of April, Nigerians would be expecting a better conduct by which time; the electoral body would have put its house in order to ensure a hitch-free exercise. "He deserves to be encouraged and motivated in the light of our present shortcomings, so that the electoral body would be able to conduct a better election rather than conduct one that would be subject of condemnation and rejection. "With the late arrival of election materials, it would have been impossible to conduct the elections as scheduled and whose results would be acceptable to the electorates. The former military leader noted in a statement signed by his Media assistant, Prince Kassim Afegbua that Professor Jega has introduced a new approach to the responsibility of the electoral body by according to Babangida, "accepting the bare-faced fact that the elections should be postponed till Monday, 4th April, he has displayed a unique courage and accepted full responsibility for the shortcomings. "That alone is the hallmark of leadership that is responsible, humble, calculated, bold, courageous and responsive to unanticipated challenges. Rather than condemn him in wholesale terms, we should empathize with him, we should motivate him to ensure credible outcome, and we should commend him for having that unpeculiar courage to own up to the failings and frailties of INEC. "By 4th April, Nigerians would be expecting a better conduct by which time; the electoral body would have put its house in order to ensure a hitch-free exercise. Democracy often comes with all manners of challenges and very peculiar hiccups. It is our ability to withstand the shocks that would continue to motivate us to move forward in our democratic journey. Let us not crucify Professor Jega without commending him for his courage. Let us believe that this is an opportunity for the electoral body to make amends and deliver credible elections to Nigerians without equivocation". IBB said. Courtesy Of: Channels tv