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Monday, February 9, 2015
Due to the ongoing insecurity in Nigeria on the run up to the presidential elections, the Nigerian government has decided to postpone them until March 28. Nigerian security forces are busy fighting the Boko Haram in northern Nigeria and cannot ensure the safety of voters around the country.
The call for a postponement of the elections has been ongoing by officials in President Goodluck Jonathan’s government although the electoral commission maintains that the decision to postpone was an independent one and it was not influenced by outside forces.
“Many people will be very angry and annoyed,” Independent National Electoral Commission Chairman Attahiru Jega told a news conference on February 7. “I want to assure all Nigerians, no one is forcing us to make this decision, this is a very weighty decision.”
Elections, originally scheduled for February 14, were pitting incumbent Jonathan against Muhammadu Buhari. The electoral commission is trying to avoid any further violence by the postponement as several people have died already in protests.
Jonathan and Buhari, a former military dictator, faced off against each other in 2011for the position of president. Some 800 people were killed in the protests in the predominantly Muslim north after those elections.
Jonathan’s party commended the postponement in a statement 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.”
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