Even though
president Goodluck Jonathan is insisting he didn’t partake in the
postponement of the General elections, the United States-based New York
Times thinks otherwise.
In the editorial of its Monday edition titled, “Nigeria’s Miserable Choices”,
it opined that the postponement of the elections by the Independent
National Electoral Commission was orchestrated by President Goodluck
Jonathan to frustrate Maj. Gen Muhammadu Buhari (retd.) of the All
Progressives Congress.
See excerpts below:
“Any
argument to delay the vote might be more credible if President Goodluck
Jonathan’s government had not spent much of the past year playing down
the threat posed by the militants and if there were a reasonable
expectation that the country’s weak military has the ability to improve
security in a matter of weeks.
“It appears more likely
that Mr. Jonathan grew alarmed by the surging appeal of Muhammadu
Buhari, a former military ruler who has vowed to crack down on Boko
Haram. By dragging out the race, Jonathan stands to deplete his rival’s
campaign coffers while he continues to use state funds and institutions
to bankroll his own.”
“Beyond security matters,
entrenched corruption and the government’s inability to diversify its
economy as the price of oil, the country’s financial bedrock, has fallen
and has also caused Nigerians to look for new leadership.
“Nigeria,
the most populous African nation, and a relatively young democracy,
cannot afford an electoral crisis. That would only set back the
faltering efforts to reassert government control in districts where Boko
Haram is sowing terror.
“The security forces may not be
able to safeguard many districts on Election Day. But postponement is
very likely to make the security threat worse.”