Vote delayed
Nigerians check their names on voting lists at the State INEC Independent Electoral Comission Office in Jimeta on Saturday. The electoral watchdog postponed presidential and parliamentary elections for one week just hours before polls were due to open (See story on
Nigeria’s election commission on Saturday rejected claims of political interference after its last-minute postponement of presidential elections, as voters caught unawares hit out at the announcement.
The Independent Electoral Commission (INEC) announced a one-week delay just hours before polls to elect the head of Africa’s most populous nation were due to open at 7 am GMT.
It blamed logistical difficulties including problems in the distribution of ballot papers and results sheets, as well as sabotage, after three fires at its offices in two weeks.
But the two main political parties claimed the delay was part of a conspiracy to rig the results. International observers called for calm.
President Muhammadu Buhari, 76, and his main challenger Atiku Abubakar, 72, returned to Abuja from their home towns in the northern states of Katsina and Adamawa.
In the capital, INEC Chairman Mahmood Yakubu rejected claims of a political conspiracy. “Our decision was entirely taken by the commission,” he told a news conference. He added that it had “nothing to do with political influence.”
Voters arrived early to vote only to find many of the nearly 120,000 polling units deserted and unstaffed.
“Why didn’t they announce the delay earlier? Why make the announcement in the middle of the night?” asked Chidi Nwakuna, a businessman in the southern city of Port Harcourt.
Just hours before the announcement, Boko Haram jihadists killed at least eight people in an attack on the northeastern city of Maiduguri.
Rumors began circulating late on Friday about a possible postponement after widespread reports of problems with the delivery of election materials, including ballot papers.
INEC commissioners held emergency talks and after examining the logistics plans concluded the timetable was “no longer feasible,” Yakubu said.
Presidential and parliamentary elections are now set for February 23, and governorship and state assembly elections pushed back to March 9.