ABUJA, Nigeria — Nigeria is postponing presidential and legislative elections until March 28 because security forces fighting an Islamic uprising cannot ensure voters’ safety around the country, the electoral commission announced Saturday, a week before the vote was scheduled.
Millions could be disenfranchised if voting originally scheduled for Feb. 14 went ahead while Boko Haram extremists hold a large swath of the northeast and commit mayhem that has left 1.5 million people homeless.
Commission chairman Attahiru Jega told a news conference Saturday night that national security advisers and intelligence officers have said security forces need six weeks to conduct “a major operation” against Boko Haram and cannot also safeguard the elections.
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Jonathan’s party has won every election since then but the failure of the military to curb the 5-year Islamic uprising, growing corruption and an economy hit by slumping oil prices have hurt the president of Africa’s biggest oil producer and most populous nation of about 170 million.
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Faul reported from Dakar, Senegal.
