Pres. Buhari is among the 73 contestants for the now postponed elections
Nigeria’s electoral body has postponed elections five hours before they were scheduled to start.
The Independent National Electoral Commission issued a press release that did not point out the immediate cause for the postponement, only that “proceeding with the elections as scheduled is no longer feasible.”
The statement also added that the decision was ‘difficult but necessary’.
The presidential and national assembly elections that were to be held on Saturday have now been pushed to 23rd February. Gubernatorial and state assembly elections, originally scheduled for the 2nd March, have now been pushed to 9th March.
Such a postponement may not be so surprising for Nigeria, given that the last election was delayed by an even longer period. The 2015 elections were postponed by six weeks. During that period, a multinational taskforce fought to wrest control of the northeast from Boko Haram terrorists. That period would also allow more people to claim their voter cards.
In the run up to this postponed election, fires at several INEC offices have destroyed voter cards and card readers. Boko Haram has also caused more than 60,000 people to flee the northeast as of early February. More recently, 66 bodies were recovered from several villages in Kaduna state. The state borders the federal capital Abuja.
INEC will hold a press conference at 2pm (local time) on Saturday to provide further information on the decision.
By Matengo Chwanya
Africa Global News Publication
