The elections which were scheduled to take place on 14 February were moved to a later date after Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) expressed concern over security.
The elections have been pushed from 14 February to 28 March, while the state gubernatorial and legislative votes have been moved to 11 April.
According to Premium Times, Buhari told his supported just after the announcement that the delay gave them an opportunity to mobilise support among Nigerians.
Buhari warned that his party won't tolerate any further delays, calling on INEC to maintain the newly scheduled date.
"The elections must be sacrosanct," Buhari was quoted as saying.
According to reports, the delay was set to give a new multinational force – made up of at least 8 700 troops, police and civilians to secure north-eastern areas under the sway of Boko Haram Islamist insurgents.
There were fears that millions could be disenfranchised if the vote went ahead while the Boko Haram held a large swath of the northeast.
According to Africa Check, this is not the first time that INEC has delayed a presidential vote. The commission did so in 2011, but this time it has come "in the context of a far tighter political race".
President Goodluck Jonathan is set to face Buhari in the elections described by analysts as the fiercest in many years.
No comments:
Post a Comment