Nigeria Postpones Vote for Six Weeks as Boko Haram Attacks Rage

President Goodluck Jonathan's ruling People's Democratic Party will face a united opposition led by former military ruler Muhammadu Buhari, seen here on left, in what analysts expect will be the tightest contest since the PDP came to power in 1999. Photographer: AMINU ABUBAKAR/AFP/Getty Images

By Chris Kay
Sunday, February 8, 2015

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Nigeria announced a six-week postponement of presidential and legislative elections that were scheduled to be held Feb. 14 because of worsening attacks by Islamist militants.

Independent National Electoral Commission Chairman Attahiru Jega said the presidential and legislative elections will be held March 28, followed by state gubernatorial and legislative votes on April 11. The delay will help the commission finish distributing biometric cards to the 68.8 million registered voters.

The security forces said “if we have six weeks” they can secure “normalcy,” Jega told reporters late Saturday in Abuja, the capital. “What else can we do? We believe them. I know there are sufficient grounds for cynicism, but let’s keep hope alive.”

Boko Haram has been battling for the past six years to establish Islamic law in Africa’s biggest oil producer, which has the continent’s largest economy and population. The group killed more than 4,700 people last year, double the number who died in 2013, according to estimates from Bath, U.K.-based risk consultancy Verisk Maplecroft. African Union officials have agreed to create a regional force to fight the group. More than 1 million Nigerians have fled their homes because of the violence.

President Goodluck Jonathan’s ruling People’s Democratic Party will face a united opposition led by former military ruler Muhammadu Buhari in what analysts expect will be the tightest contest since the PDP came to power in 1999.

Investor Concern

The spiralling violence in Nigeria’s northeast and a 50 percent decline in oil prices since June are tempering investor appetite for a country whose economy has expanded more than 5 percent a year over the past four years. The naira has tumbled 17 percent in the past six months, the most among 24 African currencies tracked by Bloomberg.

Civil-rights groups said the military and security services pressured the electoral commission to delay the vote.

“For something they have not been able to deal with in the past years, they might not deal with in six weeks. They could seek another postponement because they might not solve it,” Jibrin Ibrahim, director of the Abuja-based Centre for Democracy and Development, said on Saturday by phone. “The implication is that we may not have an election. It is a coup by the military.”

National Security

Jega said the office of Nigeria’s National Security Advisor wrote to INEC on Wednesday saying that “security could not be guaranteed during the proposed period in February for the general elections,” especially in the northeastern states of Borno, Adamawa, Gombe and Yobe.

“Many people will be very angry and annoyed with this decision,” Jega said. “We believe it is the best decision to make under the circumstances.”

Lai Mohammed, spokesman for the opposition All Progressives Congress, couldn’t be reached immediately on his mobile phone for comment. A spokesman for the ruling People’s Democratic Party, Olisa Metuh, didn’t answer two calls to his mobile phone.

Boko Haram attacked border towns inside the neighboring country of Niger for the first time this week, days after raiding the town of Fotokol in Cameroon.

The attacks followed an offensive by Chadian troops backed by their air force to drive Boko Haram out of towns it holds in northeastern Nigeria as part of its self-declared Caliphate.

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