The Nigerian National Security Adviser Sambo Dasuki said Thursday that he had advised the chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) that it would be more “prudent” to delay the next month’s election in order to give organizers more time to distribute millions of biometric ID cards to voters.
“If in one year you’ve distributed 30 million, I don’t see how you will distribute another 30 million in two weeks. It doesn’t make sense,” the top security official said in London at the Chatham House, the Royal Institute of International Affairs.
Meanwhile the country’s opposition coalition said it would oppose any postponement, and the electoral commission said it had not received any such official communication.
At least 68.8 million voters have been called for the elections, currently scheduled for February 14, that are the first in the most populous African country to require voters to have biometric cards. A measure introduced to guard against fraud that has plagued past polls.
The election comes as Nigeria is plagued by violence exerted mostly by the extremist group Boko Haram, the President Goodluck Jonathan is running for re-election while his key challenger is the former military ruler, Muhammadu Buhari.
According to official figures, last year more than 10,000 people died in attacks perpetrated by the organization which seeks to revive a medieval caliphate in Africa’s most populous country and its biggest energy producer.