Four Nigerian political parties have called for the postponement of the gubernatorial election in northeast Bauchi State, less than 48 hours to the election.
The parties, the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC), the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP), the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) and KOWA party, made the call during a joint press conference in Bauchi on Tuesday.
Spokesperson of the parties, Aliyu Abubakar, told reporters that the election should only hold if the current curfew imposed on the state is lifted immediately.
The state government should immediately lift the dusk-to-dawn curfew imposed on the state if the election must hold on Thursday, he added.
The parties said the call became necessary because the state government had allegedly been issuing passes to government officials to perpetrate rigging.
This is being done so that they can assist in rigging the election while others in the opposition are kept indoors, Abubakar said.
The parties also expressed dissatisfaction with the deployment of security agents, including armored tanks, to major towns, saying the move had been scaring and intimidating people.
“If the argument is that it is the security situation in the state that has necessitated these security measures, then, for election to be free, fair and credible, we call for the postponement of the election,” the parties told reporters.
The opposition parties also advised that students earlier trained for election duties should be drafted to replace National Youths Service Corps (NYSC) members who have declined to participate further in the general elections.
“In the event of corps members declining to participate in the exercise, students of tertiary institutions who have previously been trained but not engaged should be re-mobilized for the elections as is the case in Kano State,” the parties said.
The four parties said they had already contacted the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and security agencies in the state on the matter.
They also urged the security agents to release opposition party agents arrested in parts of the state.
A 24-hour restriction of movement in the state was announced earlier on Tuesday, beginning from Wednesday.
The gubernatorial election was shifted by two days in Bauchi and Kaduna states following post-election violence in the states.