President Muhammadu Buhari (right) and Atiku Abubakar
NIGERIA’S PRESIDENTIAL and National Assembly Elections which were expected to be held today, Saturday 16th, February 2019, have been rescheduled to Saturday February 23, 2019.
Africa’s most populous nation has also rescheduled its Governorship, State House of Assembly and Federal Capital Territory Area and Council Elections to Saturday, March 4, 2019.
The decision was announced by Nigeria’s electoral body, Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) barely six hours to the expected start the polls.
A statement signed by its Chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu and sighted by DGN Online did not state the reason for the postponment but reports suggest it was due to the none availability of voting materials at some polling stations.
An estimated 84 million registered voters in Nigeria, DGN Online gathered, were expected at the polls across the West African nation today to cast their ballots in an election that is fiercely being contested by about 79 presidential candidates.
Incumbent President Buhari and opposition PDP’s flagbearer, Atiku Abubakar are the two leading candidates for the race.
But INEC said in the statement that at a meeting held on Friday, February 15, 2019, it came to the conclusion that the elections should be postponed to ensure that it organized a free, fair, and credible elections.
It said it realized that proceeding with the elections as scheduled was no longer feasible.
It cited logistics and operational challenges as the reasons for the postponement.
Meanwhile, INEC is scheduled to meet with key election stakeholders in Abuja on Friday, February 15, 2019 to update them on the latest arrangement.
It said the postponement will afford the Commission the opportunity to address the challenges identified in order to maintain the quality of Nigeria’s elections.
The last time Nigeria held a presidential election was in 2015 when then opposition leader, Mr. Buhari defeated then incumbent Goodluck Jonathan.
By Melvin Talue