No further postponement of Nigerian elections

Tuesday, March 24, 2015

Abuja - Africa’s most populous country Nigeria will go to the polls this weekend.

According to the country's electoral chief, there will be no further postponement of Nigeria's general election, dousing speculation of a second shifting of the polls.

Nigeria's rescheduled presidential and national assembly elections will be held on Saturday, March 28, while the governorship and state congress elections will be on April 11.

The elections were previously set for February 14 and February 28 respectively.

However, the West African country announced on February 7 a six-week postponement to the elections, citing fears over security and the Boko Haram insurgency.

Speaking at the national briefing of accredited observers for the general election, the Independent National Electoral Commission’s chief, Attahiru Jega, said the body is ready conduct the election and there will be no reason for another postponement.

"This (forthcoming) election will [be held] as scheduled. Over 81 percent of permanent voter card collection had been achieved," the official said.

He said the electoral body had trained and retrained its ad hoc and permanent staff ahead of the election, particularly on the rudiments of polls and how to operate the electronic card readers procured for the general election.

"We will do everything to ensure that the elections are successful," Jega said.

Earlier, Nigerian police had said they were ready to provide adequate security for the national polls and officers would be deployed and ordered to provide watertight security across Nigeria before, during and after the elections.

To prepare a safe and secure ground to guarantee hitch-free elections, the Nigerian police chief said officers will be on guard around all key and vulnerable points, such as internally displaced persons (IDPs) camps, media houses, service provider installations, headquarters of the Independent National Electoral Commission and voting centres, banks, hospitals, hotels and government offices, among others. – SAnews.gov.za-Xinhua