Nigeria: Elections Postponed for the Second Time in Two Days
By staff writers
Lagos---The voting process had already started on Saturday, with large turnouts reported in cities such as Lagos and Kano, before Electoral chief Attahiru Jega announced the postponement. Nigeria has postponed its parliamentary election until next Saturday - the second such delay in two days. The vote was initially due to take place on Saturday, but staff and papers failed to materialize at polling stations around the country. After first calling the election off until Monday, officials further delayed it until next weekend.
The election commission's decision means presidential and state elections have also been pushed back. The BBC's Caroline Duffield in Lagos says the country's political culture of vote-rigging and violence has made it difficult for people to accept the official explanations for the delay.
She says many voters - and some politicians - think political interference caused Saturday's chaos.
Attahiru Jega was brought in last year to overhaul a system often regarded as flawed. The electoral chaos has led some to question his suitability for the job. Announcing the second delay, Mr. Jega said the decision had the backing of all political parties.
"Requests to reschedule the national assembly elections have come from a cross section of stakeholders, including political parties and civil society organizations," he said.
"We are more determined now to ensure that the 2011 elections are free, fair and credible."
The People's Democratic Party (PDP) has won all three elections since the end of military rule in 1999, amid widespread claims of rigging and cheating. In lieu of the elections, there are 74million registered voters, 360 National Assembly members, 109 senators, 54 parties contesting, 36 governors and 20 presidential candidates.
About 73 million people have registered for the parliamentary, presidential and gubernatorial polls over two weeks.
Previous Nigerian elections are marked by violence - and security had been high in the run-up to Saturday's aborted poll. Amnesty International said at least 20 people had been killed in election-related violence over the last two weeks.
Nigeria is Africa's biggest oil producer and among the biggest in the world but most of its people subsists on less than $2 a day. Furthermore, it is ranked among the most unequal countries in the world, according to the UN.
Several representations have been made to the Commission Since delay announcement urging it to consult more widely and to ensure that the two-day postponement is enough to address all the logistical issues that may militate against a successful conduct of the rescheduled elections.
Following these representations and subsequent consultations with stakeholders, the Commission has found that the overwhelming sentiment is to further reschedule the elections. Requests to reschedule the National Assembly elections have come from a cross-section of stakeholders, including political parties and civil society organizations.