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AFP
Abuja
Nigeria’s election commission on Saturday rejected claims of political interference after its last-minute postponement of presidential elections, as voters caught unawares hit out at the announcement.
The Independent Electoral Commission (INEC) announced a one-week delay just hours before polls to elect the head of Africa’s most populous nation were due to open at 0700 GMT.
It blamed logistical difficulties, including problems in the distribution of ballot papers and results sheets, as well as sabotage, after three fires at its offices in two weeks.
But the two main political parties claimed the delay was part of a conspiracy to rig the results. President Muhammadu Buhari, 76, and his main challenger Atiku Abubakar, 72, returned to Abuja from their home towns in the northern states of Katsina and Adamawa.
In the capital, INEC chairman Mahmood Yakubu, rejected assertions of a political conspiracy. “Our decision was entirely taken by the commission,” he told a news conference.
“It has nothing to do with security, nothing to do with political influence, nothing to do with availability of resource.” Voters arrived early to vote only to find many of the nearly 120,000 polling units deserted and unstaffed.
Abuja
Nigeria’s election commission on Saturday rejected claims of political interference after its last-minute postponement of presidential elections, as voters caught unawares hit out at the announcement.
The Independent Electoral Commission (INEC) announced a one-week delay just hours before polls to elect the head of Africa’s most populous nation were due to open at 0700 GMT.
It blamed logistical difficulties, including problems in the distribution of ballot papers and results sheets, as well as sabotage, after three fires at its offices in two weeks.
But the two main political parties claimed the delay was part of a conspiracy to rig the results. President Muhammadu Buhari, 76, and his main challenger Atiku Abubakar, 72, returned to Abuja from their home towns in the northern states of Katsina and Adamawa.
In the capital, INEC chairman Mahmood Yakubu, rejected assertions of a political conspiracy. “Our decision was entirely taken by the commission,” he told a news conference.
“It has nothing to do with security, nothing to do with political influence, nothing to do with availability of resource.” Voters arrived early to vote only to find many of the nearly 120,000 polling units deserted and unstaffed.
