The PDP condemned the postponement and described it as “a coup against the people of Edo State.”
The opposition party said changing the date “was a less than ingenious attempt to ‘buy time’ for the governing All Progressives Congress, APC”.
“It is shameful and indeed a major constitutional breach for the security agencies to act in concert with the APC to truncate an Election that had been planned for months,” the party said in a statement signed by Dayo Adeyeye, its interim spokesperson.
“Nigerians were not deceived by the obvious concoctions of the security agencies whose performances during elections have been less than average since the advent of the Buhari Administration.
“The postponement of the Election by INEC is illegal, unconstitutional and a breach of the peoples’ trust in the Commission and the security agencies.
“It is a coup against the people of Edo State in particular and Nigerians in general. Since APC assumed power, virtually all elections conducted by INEC have either been inconclusive or truncated.”
In his reaction, the Ekiti State Governor, Ayo Fayose described the postponement as “beginning of the end for democracy in Nigeria.”
“It is obvious that the All Progressives Congress (APC) feared that it can’t win the election and is ready to employ whatever crude means to subvert the wish of the people,” he said.
“How can you postpone an election less than 48 hours to the scheduled date? What manner of security concern could prevent an election in just one state when elections were held in Northeast States that are confronted by Boko Haram insurgents?” the Ekiti governor said.
The ruling APC in Edo, which had accused the PDP of plotting to import armed persons to cause havoc during the elections, did not condemn the postponement as at the time of this report.