Iran Press/Africa: Addressing journalists in the early hours of Saturday, Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) Chairman Mahmood Yakubu said that the delay was needed to hold a free and fair election.
The commission came to the conclusion that proceeding with the election as scheduled is no longer feasible. Consequently, the commissioners decided to reschedule the presidential and national assembly elections to Saturday 23 February 2019, he added, Reuters reported.
President Muhammadu Buhari faces a tight election contest in Africa’s largest economy, top oil producer and most populous nation against the main opposition candidate, businessman and former vice president Atiku Abubakar.
The country’s presidential elections in 2011 and 2015 were also delayed over logistics and security issues.
Nigeria's President Muhammadu Buhari, Daura in Katsina State, February 15, 2019. REUTERS
The decision to delay this year’s vote was criticized by the chairman of the main opposition People’s Democratic Party (PDP).
And the president’s ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) party criticized the electoral commission for the delay.
Buhari "cooperated fully with INEC by ensuring everything it demanded to conduct free and fair elections were promptly made available," it said in a statement. This news is therefore a huge disappointment to us, it said.
Prior to the announcement there were statements commenting on concerns over the election.
An INEC official told Reuters that some result sheets and some ballot papers are reportedly missing. We want to track every (piece of) sensitive material, take inventory of what we have and what is missing.
One Western diplomat said that sensitive materials (ballot papers and results sheets) have been delayed in being distributed.
Ad-hoc staff wait to load election materials onto a truck for distribution in Yola, in Adamawa State, Nigeria February 15, 2019. REUTERS
Nigeria is also dealing with pockets of instability. Throughout the day, authorities bolstered security in much of the country on the eve of the vote in Africa’s largest democracy where past elections have been marred by violence, voter intimidation and ballot rigging.
Boko Haram, whose name roughly translates as 'Western education is forbidden', pledged allegiance to the Takfiri ISIS group in 2015.
Boko Haram’s terrorist activity began in northeastern Nigeria from 2009 and apart from targeting soldiers and civilians, the Takfiri terrorists have also been blamed for using kidnapping as a weapon of war, seizing thousands of women and young girls as well as men and young boys.
Boko Haram’s nine-year militancy is estimated to have killed more than 27,000 people and forced 1.8 million others to flee their homes, also triggering a humanitarian crisis. 101/202
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