2023: Timi Frank warns Buhari, INEC against poll shift

Former Deputy National Publicity Secretary of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Comrade Timi Frank, on Sunday, advised President Muhammadu Buhari not to contemplate or accept any recommendation to shift the forthcoming polls.

Frank who made this plea in a statement in Abuja, also called on the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), not to add to the current harrowing experience of Nigerians by shifting the polls.

He said the call became necessary following clandestine efforts by the APC and its 2023 Presidential candidate, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, to have the elections postponed because of imminent failure staring at them in the face as February 25, 2023 approaches.

He accused Tinubu of having allegedly mobilized the media and Civil Society Organizations in the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory with huge sums to begin editorial campaigns and protests respectively to call for the postponement of the presidential elections using the excuse of fuel and Naira scarcity.

Frank, who is the United Liberation Movement for West Papua (ULMWP) Ambassador to East Africa and Middle East, called on Buhari not to succumb to the blackmail of APC and Tinubu who are presently using the APC Governors to prevail on him to shift the polls just like they pressurized him to make Tinubu to emerge as the Presidential candidate of the party.

He insisted that the only legacy Buhari will leave for Nigeria is to keep to his promise to conduct a free, fair, credible and transparent 2023 general elections notwithstanding the efforts being made by Tinubu through the APC governors to make him do otherwise.

He reminded Buhari that already, Tinubu has openly campaigned that the APC Government had failed saying that it is only by insisting on the conduct of free, fair and credible elections that will redeem his image.

He said that Tinubu and APC are seeking postponement of the elections to enable them perfect their rigging strategies ahead of the elections just like 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 making sure the forthcoming general election is free, fair and credible.

“The international community is waiting to see if you will keep to your promise or you deceived them with your promise to ensure 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 in order 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 called on INEC to resist any overtures to postpone the elections. He said do so would be resisted by Nigerians who are already fed up with the present administration and are waiting to take them out of office with their Permanent Voter Card (PVC).