Nigeria electoral commission said on Saturday, 16 2019, that the postponement of general elections just hours before polls were due to open was for logistical reasons.
The commission added that it was not the result of political interference or security concerns. Yet, the move, announced in the middle of the night, reinforces opposition criticisms that state institutions under Buhari aren’t independent or competent enough.
Independent National Electoral Commission Chairman Mahmood Yakubu told reporters the commission had faced difficulties arranging a general election involving around 100 parties, 23,300 candidates and 84 million registered voters.
Bad weather had disrupted flights distributing election materials, while three commission offices in the east were burned in acts of “sabotage,” he said. “The challenges, even under the best circumstances, are enormous.”
As well as pushing back the presidential and parliamentary vote, INEC delayed governorship elections for a week until March 9.
“The significance of the Nigerian elections for Africa is tremendous,” Nic Cheeseman, a professor of democracy and international development at the University of Birmingham in the U.K., said last week. “A flawed election and the political instability that this could generate would not only undermine confidence in the feasibility of democracy in one of Africa’s most important states, but also slow economic growth in West Africa and the wider region.