{"id":194875,"date":"2026-02-14T10:53:26","date_gmt":"2026-02-14T09:53:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/uncategorized\/atiku-criticizes-inec-and-calls-for-election-postponement"},"modified":"2026-02-14T11:57:20","modified_gmt":"2026-02-14T10:57:20","slug":"atiku-criticizes-inec-and-calls-for-election-postponement","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/atiku-criticizes-inec-and-calls-for-election-postponement","title":{"rendered":"Atiku Criticizes INEC and Calls for Election Postponement"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"color: #ff6600\"><strong>Africa-Press &#8211; Nigeria. <\/strong><\/span>Former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar has called on the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, to urgently reconsider the February 20, 2027 date announced for the next general elections, describing it as insensitive and poorly judged.<\/p>\n<p>INEC had fixed February 20, 2027 for the nationwide polls, a date that falls within the Ramadan period, scheduled to run from February 7 to March 8, 2027.<\/p>\n<p>In a statement posted on his verified X handle, Atiku argued that conducting elections during Ramadan could negatively affect participation and undermine inclusivity in the electoral process.<\/p>\n<p>According to him, fixing such a crucial civic activity in the middle of a major religious observance reflects poor judgment and a lack of sensitivity to Nigeria\u2019s socio-religious realities.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) must urgently reconsider the February 20, 2027 date it has announced for the general elections. That date falls squarely within the Ramadan period (February 7 \u2013 March 8, 2027), a sacred season of fasting, reflection, and spiritual devotion for millions of Nigerian Muslims.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cElections are not mere administrative rituals; they are national exercises that demand maximum participation, physical endurance, and collective focus. Fixing such a critical civic exercise in the middle of a major religious observance reflects poor judgment and a troubling lack of sensitivity to the nation\u2019s socio-religious realities.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIn a diverse country like Nigeria, inclusive planning is not optional, it is fundamental. Something as basic as choosing a broadly acceptable date should not be mishandled. It speaks to competence, foresight, and respect for citizens.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf INEC struggles with getting a simple matter of timing right, Nigerians are justified in asking: what assurance do we have that it will competently deliver free, fair, and credible elections in 2027?,\u201d the statement read.<\/p>\n<p><strong>For More News And Analysis About <span style=\"color: #ff6600\">Nigeria<\/span> Follow <span style=\"color: #ff6600\">Africa-Press<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Africa-Press &#8211; Nigeria. Former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar has called on the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, to urgently reconsider the February 20, 2027 date announced for the next general elections, describing it as insensitive and poorly judged. INEC had fixed February 20, 2027 for the nationwide polls, a date that falls within the Ramadan [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":194874,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[24,14],"tags":[254],"class_list":["post-194875","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-policy","tag-nigeria"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.1 (Yoast SEO v27.0) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Atiku Criticizes INEC and Calls for Election Postponement - Nigeria<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar has called on the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, to urgently rec ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/atiku-criticizes-inec-and-calls-for-election-postponement\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Atiku Criticizes INEC and Calls for Election Postponement\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar has called on the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, to urgently rec ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/atiku-criticizes-inec-and-calls-for-election-postponement\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Nigeria\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-02-14T09:53:26+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-02-14T10:57:20+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/sites\/3\/2026\/02\/sm_1771066575.836368.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"720\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/atiku-criticizes-inec-and-calls-for-election-postponement#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/atiku-criticizes-inec-and-calls-for-election-postponement\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"Atiku Criticizes INEC and Calls for Election Postponement\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-02-14T09:53:26+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-02-14T10:57:20+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/atiku-criticizes-inec-and-calls-for-election-postponement\"},\"wordCount\":295,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/atiku-criticizes-inec-and-calls-for-election-postponement#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/sites\/3\/2026\/02\/sm_1771066575.836368.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Nigeria\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"Policy\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/atiku-criticizes-inec-and-calls-for-election-postponement#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/atiku-criticizes-inec-and-calls-for-election-postponement\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/atiku-criticizes-inec-and-calls-for-election-postponement\",\"name\":\"Atiku Criticizes INEC and Calls for Election Postponement - 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