In the meeting which shall hold on Thursday, the Council of States convened by President Goodluck Jonathan shall discuss among other things, the possibility of poll shift. The council consists of the President, the Vice-President, all former Presidents or ex-Heads of State, all former Chief Justices of Nigeria, the President of the Senate, all state governors and the Attorney-General of the Federation. Though, INEC had announced its stance against postponing the election, some leaders feel the poll should be postponed to enable INEC distribute more voter cards to the public. A Presidential official in Abuja disclosed to Punch that:
“The truth of the matter is that if urgent step is not taken, Prof. Jega may end up ridiculing this country. Available information shows that the commission is not set for this election contrary to Jega’s claim.
“We learnt he actually summoned a meeting recently with a view to postponing the election but he is scared of the opposition who have been kicking against such. This Thursday (tomorrow) meeting will definitely review INEC’s preparations and take a stand.”
Another Presidency source said Jonathan might use the opportunity provided by the meeting to garner support for the postponement of the polls.
“The Presidency is not resting on its oars concerning the plan to shift the elections. It is already in talks with some members of the council. If the plan fails, we would opt for another plan, which is to return to the drawing board; plan a new strategy on how to deal with our opponents.” the source added.