The postponement of Nigeria’s elections, just hours before the commencement of voting on Saturday last week, sent shockwaves across the country and beyond. Many people were concerned not just about the readiness of the country’s electoral management institution but also about the fate of democratic peace and security in Africa’s most populous country. Nigerians vote […]

Why did INEC not anticipate the challenges facing the long-scheduled elections in advance and respond proactively to avoid a last-minute postponement? Its failure to do so suggests an avoidable lapse in judgment and an inability to read the situation accurately.

This article explores the implications—for democracy, peace, and security—of the postponement of Nigeria’s 2019 elections, initially set for February 16 (presidential and national assembly) and March 2 (governor and state assembly). Both elections have now been rescheduled to February 23 and March 11, respectively. Nigeria’s electoral history is replete with poll postponements since the military […]

By 2:30 am in the morning of February 16, 2019, less than six hours before the polls were scheduled to open, the chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Mahmood Yakubu, announced the postponement of presidential and national assembly elections citing logistical and operational problems. Predictably, INEC’s decision was widely condemned by Nigerians who […]

At about 2:30 am on February 16, 2019, five hours before the polls were due to open, the chairman of Nigeria’s Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Mahmood Yakubu, announced in a press release that Nigeria’s general elections had been rescheduled to February 23, with state elections moved to March 9. At a stakeholders meeting later that […]