Former All Progressives Congress (APC) deputy national publicity secretary Comrade Timi Frank advised President Muhammadu Buhari on Sunday not to consider or heed any suggestions to postpone the impending elections.
In a statement issued in Abuja, Frank made this demand. Additionally, he requested that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) refrain from moving the polls since doing so would only make Nigerians' already precarious lives worse.
He claimed that the APC and Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, its presidential candidate for the year 2023, had been secretly attempting to postpone the polls because they knew they would lose, which would take place on February 25, 2023.
He said that Tinubu had spent a lot of money to sway editorial campaigns and protests calling for the postponement of the presidential elections by Civil Society Organizations in the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory, claiming that there wasn't enough fuel or Naira.
Buhari was warned not to succumb to the demands of the APC and Tinubu by Frank, the ULMWP's ambassador to East Africa and the Middle East. Just like they persuaded him to name Tinubu the party's presidential candidate, they are using the APC Governors to influence him to change the polls.
He reaffirmed that despite Tinubu and the APC governors' efforts to persuade him otherwise, the only legacy Buhari will leave for Nigeria is to carry out his promise to organise free, fair, credible, and transparent general elections in 2023.
Reminding Buhari that Tinubu has already conducted an open campaign asserting that the APC Government has failed, he stated that the only way for Buhari to regain his reputation is to insist on the holding of free, fair, and credible elections.
He asserted that Tinubu and the APC want the elections postponed so they can prepare to rig the election, the same as how they did in 2019.
Frank said, “Buhari has promised Nigerians and the world to bequeath free, fair and credible as his legacy. He must not allow the APC Governors and the behest of Tinubu to sway him to do otherwise.
“You need to prove Tinubu wrong that your government has not failed by ensuring the forthcoming general election is free, fair and credible.
“The international community is waiting to see if you will keep to your promise or if you deceived them with your commitment to ensuring holistic electoral reforms in the country.
“Nigerians are ready to go to the polls to correct the evil policies of an uncaring administration, as Tinubu has confirmed, to free themselves from hardship deliberately inflicted on them through clueless leadership.
“This is a better time to hold this election to enable Nigerians to choose whether to remain in Egypt with APC’s Pharaoh or to cross over to the promised land with the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).”
He asked INEC to say no to any attempts to push back the elections. He said that Nigerians, who are already sick of the current government and are waiting to get rid of them with their Permanent Voter Cards (PVC), would be against it.