The face of incumbent President Muhammadu Buhari is seen on a campaign poster fixed to the pillars of a highway bridge near Nyanya, on the eastern outskirts of the capital Abuja, Nigeria Tuesday, Feb. 12, 2019. Nigeria is due to hold general elections on Saturday, Feb. 16, 2019. Photo courtesy Ben Curtis
ABUJA, Feb 18 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Foreign election observers have appealed for calm following the last-minute postponement of the Nigerian election by a week.
“We call on all Nigerians to remain calm and support the electoral process”, said a statement from EU, UN and African Union representatives.
President Muhammadu Buhari and his main rival Atiku Abubakar condemned the election delay.
The presidential and parliamentary polls will now be held on Feb 23.
Election officials cited “logistical” reasons for the 11th-hour postponement.
In a press conference on Saturday, the chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (Inec), Mahmood Yakubu, said the decision to delay had “nothing to do with political influence”.
The foreign observers urged Inec to adhere to its new election date and provide regular updates to the public.
The two main groups, the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) and the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), both condemned the move and accused each other of trying to manipulate the vote.
President Buhari, of the APC party, urged Nigerians to “refrain from civil disorder and remain peaceful, patriotic and united to ensure that no force or conspiracy derail our democratic development”.
His main rival, Atiku Abubakar, called for calm, saying: “I’m appealing to Nigerians to please come out and vote and I’m asking them to be patient about it.”
The electoral chief, Yakubu, said: “Our decision was entirely taken by the commission. It has nothing to do with security, nothing to do with political influence.”
He said the delay was down to problems with the transportation of electoral materials – ballot papers and results sheets – to some parts of the country.
He had earlier said the decision was made because of a “determination to conduct free, fair and credible elections”.
In the past two weeks several Inec offices have been set alight, with thousands of electronic smart card readers and voter cards destroyed.
Nigeria has seen violence in the run-up to the elections and on Saturday 11 people were killed in an attack by Boko Haram militants south of Maiduguri. — NNN-AGENCIES
