The United States government has expressed ‘deep’ disappointment by the decision to postpone Nigeria’s presidential election, which had been scheduled for February 14.
A statement by U.S. Secretary of State, John Kerry, shortly after the announcement of the poll shift by the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, Attahiru Jega, on Saturday, said political interference with INEC is unacceptable.
While Jega was annoucing the shift, he justified the postponement with security concerns in the north-east, where the Islamic group Boko Haram is waging a terror campaign.
But the opposition believes President Jonathan wants to gain time to sway support from the opposition, which has been going up in opinion polls.
The U.S. government in its reaction said “it is critical that the government not use security concerns as a pretext for impeding the democratic process”.
No comments:
Post a Comment