Nigeria Postpones Elections amid Spiralling Violence
TEHRAN (Tasnim) - Nigeria is postponing presidential and legislative elections until March 28 because security forces fighting Boko Haram extremists cannot ensure voters’ safety, the electoral commission said Saturday in a decision likely to infuriate the opposition.
Officials in President Goodluck Jonathan’s government have been calling for weeks for the postponement, saying the commission is not ready to hold what promises to be the most tightly contested presidential vote in the history of Africa’s biggest democracy.
“Many people will be very angry and annoyed,” Independent National Electoral Commission Chairman Attahiru Jega told a news conference Saturday night. “I want to assure all Nigerians, no one is forcing us to make this decision, this is a very weighty decision.”
He said the commission had considered holding elections outside of the four northeastern states most affected by the uprising by Boko Haram militants, but decided that the likelihood of an inconclusive presidential election would be “very, very high”.
Nigerian elections traditionally are violent and several people already have died in clashes. Some 800 people were killed in protests in the predominantly Muslim north after 2011 elections when Jonathan beat former military dictator Muhammadu Buhari. Jonathan is a Christian from a minority tribe in the mainly Christian south. Buhari is a Muslim northerner.
Both men are facing off again and supporters of both are threatening violence if their candidate does not win this year’s contest, one analysts say is too close to call since opposition parties for the first time formed a coalition led by Buhari, AFP reported.
A statement from Jonathan’s party commended the postponement but blamed it on the commission, saying it is suffering “numerous logistical problems and numerous internal challenges”.
Buhari’s coalition said it was holding an emergency meeting to discuss the implications of “this major setback for Nigerian democracy.” It appealed to all Nigerians “to remain calm and desist from violence.”
Jega told reporters that national security advisers and intelligence officers have said security forces need six weeks to conduct “a major operation” against Boko Haram and cannot also safeguard the elections.
He said it would be “highly irresponsible” to ignore that advice and endanger the lives and security of electoral personnel and materials, voters and observers as well as the prospects for free, fair and credible elections.
Millions could be disenfranchised if Boko Haram continues to hold a large swath of the northeast and commit mayhem that has left 1.5 million people homeless.
The postponement comes amid a major offensive against the exremists joined by Chad and Nigerian warplanes and ground troops that has driven the insurgents out of a dozen towns and villages in the past 10 days. Even stronger military strikes involving more neighboring countries are planned.
