A protestor holds a banner as Nigerian security forces look on, during a protest in Abuja
Nigeria is postponing presidential and legislative elections until March 28 because security forces fighting Boko Haram extremists cannot ensure voters’ safety around the country, the electoral commission announced 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 Islamic 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.
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. Bashir Adigun and Michelle Faul,Abuja , AP
boko haram stages new assault on niger border town
Boko Haram staged an overnight assault on a border town in Niger, residents said yesterday, the second time the West African nation has come under attack by the Nigeria-based extremists since Friday.
The attack on the town of Diffa began Saturday night, and fighting between Boko Haram and Niger’s army lasted until 5 a.m. toward the town’s southern entrance before the extremists were forced to flee and calm was restored, Diffa resident Adam Boukar said.
Officials could not immediately be reached to confirm residents’ accounts or give casualty figures.
The fight against Nigeria’s Boko Haram has taken on an increasingly regional dimension in recent months, with the extremists staging attacks in both Cameroon and Niger last week alone.
Nearly 100 people were killed and some 500 wounded in an attack on the town of Fotokol in Cameroon on Wednesday and Thursday that saw Boko Haram fighters raze mosques and churches and use civilians as human shields, Cameroon officials said.
On Friday, Boko Haram reached into Niger, attacking Diffa and Bosso, another border town. Chad and Niger troops responded to the assault in Bosso, while Niger’s army pushed Boko Haram out of Diffa, inflicting “heavy losses,” Niger Defense Minister Mahamadou Karijo said.
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