Umbrella body of Nigerian Muslims, the Jama’atu Nasril Islam (JNI) has called on Nigerians to calm down as they seek to come to terms with last Saturday’s postponement of the 2015 general elections earlier billed to hold on February 14 and 28.

The JNI under the leadership of its President-General, His Eminence, the Sultan of Sokoto and his lieutenants after listening to the shift in dates of the 2015 General Elections by six weeks, as announced by INEC, is watching with keen interest the uproar the decision is currently generating in the country and therefore calls for restraint and caution by all political gladiators. They should in the name of God, not jeopardize the already tensed situation of grief and anxiety,” the group’s Secretary General, Dr. Khalid Abubakar Aliyu, said.

JNI in a statement issued in Kaduna by Aliyu noted that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) “had ab-initio assured Nigerians that arrangements for the 2015 General Elections were steady and OK, but suddenly came a shift in dates.” Even so, “Our concern most importantly is the security of lives and properties and we do hope that as stated, the security chiefs will assist positively to that effect,” Aliyu said.

JNI, according to the statement, “feels obliged to make this press release with a view to calling on not only Muslims but the entire citizens of our great country to demonstrate real and genuine sense of patriotism, responsibility, tolerance and commitment to peace and stability in the country, before, during and after the elections. We also implore all and sundry to patiently persevere in this trying moment, as the new date will certainly come to pass. People should be matured and the political actors should eschew violence prone utterances, please.”

The statement concluded with a call on all Imams to continue praying for peace and security and to also pray for Allah’s intervention for a free, fair and credible election in Nigeria.

•Photo shows JNI President-General, Sultan Sa’ad Abubakar.

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