Nigeria postpones presidential election

0

Policemen guard the gate of the Independent National Electortal Commission during the announcement of the postponement of the 2019 presidential election at the electoral body headquarters in Abuja, Nigeria. — AFP photo

ABUJA: Nigerians hoping to cast their ballots in presidential and parliamentary elections were turned away from polling stations after the electoral watchdog’s snap decision to delay the vote by a week.

Many voters were caught unawares by the early morning announcement and arrived at polling places to find the doors barred and the staff absent.

“Why didn’t they announce the delay earlier? Why make the announcement in the middle of the night?” asked Chidi Nwakuna, a businessman who’d shown up early to vote in the southern city of Port Harcourt.

Polling had been due to start at nearly 120,000 polling stations in Africa’s most populous nation at 0700 GMT, with a record 73 candidates on the ballot.

President Muhammadu Buhari, 76, was set to seek a second term of office against a stiff challenge from the main opposition candidate, former vice-president Atiku Abubakar, 72.

But rumours began circulating late on Friday about a possible postponement after widespread reports of problems with the delivery of election materials, including ballot papers.

Members of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) met in emergency session in Abuja and after examining the logistics plans concluded the timetable was “no longer feasible,” commission chairman Mahmood Yakubu said.

Parliamentary elections for 360 seats in the lower House of Representatives and 109 seats in the Senate will be held on the same day.

Governorship and state assembly elections will be pushed back to March 9, Yakubu said.

“This was a difficult decision for the commission to take but necessary for the successful delivery of elections and the consolidation of our democracy,” he added.

The two main political parties swiftly condemned the move and accused each other of orchestrating the delay as a way of manipulating the vote, sentiments echoed by voters.

“I see this postponement of the election as a … ploy to rig,” said Oyi Adamezie, a voter in the city of Warri.

Buhari’s campaign spokesman Festus Keyamo, for the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), said the news was a “huge disappointment” and hit out at INEC for being unprepared.

For his part, Abubakar of the main opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) blamed the Buhari government for “instigating the postponement” but called on his supporters to remain calm.

“We will overcome this. You can postpone an election but you cannot postpone destiny,” he added in a statement.

Nigeria has postponed voting before: in 2015, INEC announced a six-week delay just one week before the election, citing security concerns linked to the Boko Haram insurgency. — AFP