2011 election Nigeria - Angry reactions have continued to trail the stoppage of the National Assembly election, by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) with the national publicity secretary of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), Bernard Akoma, saying that INEC has killed off the morale of voters and it would be foolhardy to expect massive turn out in the resumed poll. Speaking with THISDAY on telephone Sunday, APGA spokesman expressed strong fears that the massive turn out of voters experienced last Saturday might not be repeated on Monday because people's morale has sagged and it would be very difficult to revive it. He said the enthusiasm displayed by the Nigerian electorate during the first leg of the ongoing 2011 general election was only comparable to the response of voters in the June 12, 1993 presidential election, which was later annulled.

"Morale is already low and the cost on individuals very high. I think Nigerians need apology not explanation from Jega," he said, adding that the INEC boss deserves no sympathy for the fiasco he caused as "his hypothesis has failed the laboratory test."

The APGA spokesman said he did not subscribe to the notion that the suspension of the National Assembly poll which was already in progress on Saturday was better than having a flawed poll. "The absence of results sheets merely diverted attention from other serious flaws in the whole process," he said, citing the lapses in the distribution of electoral materials which resulted to late commencement of accreditation of voters.

According to him, when the INEC helmsman fixed 8.00am as the commencement time for polling he never took into account the distance to be covered in the process of distributing electoral materials from distribution points to the polling units hence accreditation started from upwards of 11.30am in most polling units.

Emmanuel Ugwu

This Day/04/04/2011