Vote postponed from Nigeria: what's happening now?

Written by Ineke Mules

Nigerians were moved over the weekend after the postponement of the long-awaited general election, just one week before the opening of the polls on the morning of February 16, 2019. Officials cited problems logistics.

A record 84 million registered voters were upset by the turn of events, especially given the long electoral period, which was touted as the tightest political race in the country's history.

"I'm sad, I'm angry, I'm bored, I'm disappointed, that's how I feel," said a Lagos resident in DW. "Because you wake up excited about the idea of vote and then review your social media to find that they have been postponed. "

As the dust soothes, Nigerians are preparing to go to the polls again on February 23rd. But at this point, there are still more questions than answers.

Was the postponement justified?

The electoral commission claims that the election was postponed solely for logistical reasons and denied that politics played a role.

"It was a difficult decision to make, but necessary for the good conduct of the elections and the consolidation of our democracy," said the chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) Mahmood Yakubu.

Officials reportedly met early Saturday morning to discuss the missing ballots and equipment, which were destroyed by fires at INEC offices in Anambra and Plateau states.

Olayinka Ajala, a lecturer in politics at the University of York, thinks officials have probably made the right decision.

"If the election had not been postponed, these things would have been raised by the party that lost the election," he told DW. "So, I think it was justifiable."

Nigeria is no stranger to elections that were canceled at the last minute. In April 2011, the electoral commission had put an end to the electoral procedures just hours after the opening of the ballot boxes and postponed it for two days.

But many Nigerians were still perplexed about the timing of this announcement. "I do not question INEC's postponement to the INEC, but the timing of doing so," an Abuja resident told DW. "I am really disappointed with INEC and I have no confidence in them, because postponing an election the day before shows shows they have no jurisdiction. Why did not they tell people a week before?

It is still unclear how the electoral commission intends to tackle the logistical problems that led to the postponement – or to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that its decision was not the result of coercion. The electoral commission will also have to spend next week to prevent the electoral material already distributed from falling into the wrong hands.

Both parties accused of rigging

Rigging charges remained legion on both sides, which the two main parties almost immediately blame the other for orchestrating the postponement of the elections in order to manipulate the outcome. Prior to the postponement, the ruling All People's Congress (APC) and the Democratic People's Party (PDP) both accused them of trying to falsify election results by buying biometric voter cards.

Outgoing President Muhammadu Buhari, who is seeking a second term, said Monday that he had ordered the police and the army to "be ruthless" with vote riggers. The opposition almost immediately criticized his remarks, calling them "direct appeal to justice in the jungle".

According to Ajala, whatever the decision of the CENI, the losing party was supposed to contest the outcome of the elections on the basis of special effects.

"When we look at all the Nigerian elections since 1999, the losing party always complained about the result," he said. "I think that's part of the process of our nascent democracy. Regardless of whether the election was proposed or not, there would be allegations of rigging or that INEC would have favored one party or another.

Count the cost

The Nigerian economy has also been affected since the announcement of the postponement, with Nigerian stocks falling to their lowest level in a week on Monday.

The economist Bismark Rewane has already estimated the cost of the delay at around 9 to 10 billion dollars (between 7.95 and 8.80 billion euros), mainly due to the partial closure of businesses on Friday and the total closure Saturday to allow employees to leave before traffic restrictions were imposed.

Many potential voters were also left out of their pockets, after spending considerable amounts of money to leave the cities they work in to travel to their home cities to vote. People had also planned important events around Election Day, which are now in disarray.

"Many marriages and events were delayed on February 16 because of the elections," Nnamdi Nwaubani, a resident of southern Nigeria, wrote on DW Africa's Facebook page. "On February 23, every case and event will be put on hold."

Nigerians still determined to express themselves

Although the postponement probably signals that some people will not be able to repeat their trip to their home region this weekend, Ajala does not think this will have a significant impact on voter turnout.

"I do not think that the percentage of people who traveled long distances to vote is enough to have a real impact on the outcome of the elections," he said.

Young people in particular – who represent the majority of voters – seem even more determined to vote following a new chaotic election. Official Mohammed Kabir works in Abuja and has traveled more than 500 km to vote in Kaduna State. He hesitates to blame politicians and hopes that politics in Nigeria will evolve in time for the better.

"It is really necessary for political parties to wake up and get young people to play politics," he told DW. "We should not condemn the people who are [older]. We have to mix everything to be able to learn from them. When you learn from someone's mistake, you will be able to correct your own mistake. "

Another young resident of Abuja said that while he was frustrated with the postponement, he remained optimistic that people would ensure that their voices were heard.

"We should stop thinking about what happened [on Saturday]He said to DW, "This day is gone, Nigerians have yet to show up on February 23 and vote for the candidate of their choice because the future is in our hands.