By RFIPubliée on 16-02-2019Modified on 16-02-2019 at 11:10

In Nigeria, the legislative and presidential elections scheduled for Saturday were postponed by one week. An unexpected announcement occurred at night at the last minute due to logistical issues. Initially, 84 million voters were called to vote and many voters still made the trip to their polling stations, which had to open at 8am.

The postponement of these elections took all Nigerians by surprise. Several thousand of them have also moved to their state of origin to vote. President Muhammadu Buhari, for example, is normally on the side of Katsina, in Katsian State in Daura, his home town. His main rival, Atiku Abubakar, normally went to Anamawa State.

It is true that the opposition, for several days, said that a certain number of the ballot papers were not printed. Inec, too, half-hearted, had acknowledged that there were problems with the delivery of its electoral material because of the Nigerian road network, knowing that the elections are taking place in 36 states. But, if the rumor had swelled Friday night, nobody imagined such a decision there is still 24 hours.

Surprised and resigned

In Obalende, a district of Lagos, the inhabitants are divided between surprise and resignation. This Saturday morning, the neighborhood comes alive very slowly: people are grouped perplexed around a business: on the wall, lists of voters are displayed. But nothing, no election agent, no ballot boxes. So here, inevitably, one wonders.

Mohamed Sabo, an old man of at least 70 years old, showed up at 7:00 in front of his polling station: a simple bench at the corner of a business. But nothing. No electoral material, no agent of the Electoral Commission. " I am disturbed, " says the old man who, like many other voters met in this neighborhood, resigns himself to wait until next week.

Many questions

In Falamo, another popular district of Lagos, one feels some anger. " It's always like that, our authorities are disorganized, " says Johnson, a visibly discouraged youth. He stayed connected all night on social networks. " We were expecting this postponement: it's a habit in Nigeria. For me, it is clear that the Electoral Commission was not ready: there were already rumors about it circulating last week, according to which the ballots had not even been printed. The only indication of the holding of an election: lists of voters posted on the walls of shops.

In this neighborhood, almost no trade has opened. The inhabitants are already thinking of the losses caused by this canceled election day. Several questions are starting to arise: what will be the reaction of Nigerians following this announcement and what impact will this decision postponement have on the political actors in a context where violence and death are very present? The latest example is Friday, the bodies of 66 people killed during an attack were discovered in the state of Kaduna, in the northwest of the country.

    On the same subject

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