World

Nigerian president holds emergency meet with senior party members after poll delay

February 18, 2019
A cyclist drives pasts a campaign poster for President Muhammadu Buhari in a street after the postponement of the presidential election in Kano, Nigeria, on Sunday.  — Reuters
A cyclist drives pasts a campaign poster for President Muhammadu Buhari in a street after the postponement of the presidential election in Kano, Nigeria, on Sunday. — Reuters

ABUJA — President Muhammadu Buhari held a meeting with senior members of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) party on Monday over the postponement of Nigeria’s presidential election, the party said.

The electoral commission, which announced the delay five hours before polls were due to open last Saturday, said the election would now be held this coming Saturday.

Buhari, in power since 2015, faces a tight election contest against former Vice President Atiku Abubakar of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP). Both men urged voters to stay calm after the delay was announced.

Atiku later said Buhari’s administration was behind the delayed elections, without offering any evidence.

The electoral commission said the postponement was due solely to logistical factors and denied political pressure had played any part in the decision.

Presidential elections in 2011 and 2015 were also delayed over logistics and security issues.

Meanwhile, the Nigerian currency naira weakened on the forward market on Monday and Nigerian stocks fell to a one-week low after the country’s surprise decision to delay national elections over the weekend.

The one-year non-deliverable naira forward opened at a quote of 401 per dollar, compared with 397 in the previous session.

“There is some frustration on behalf of investors who have had concerns about this election for the better part of the past year and are ultimately hoping to simply put it behind them,” said Christopher Dielmann, senior economist at Exotix Capital

Investors had started to pick up shares to position for a post-election rally, assuming that the election would pass without violence or other problems. That boosted dollar liquidity on the currency market.

Stocks, which had climbed past a three-month high on Friday, shed 1.8 percent to 32,126 points on Monday.

Analysts say the delay could lead to a contested result, creating uncertainty,

“Some investors might still want to wait for the results of the election to gauge risks, such as a possible contestation of the result, which the postponing arguably now has given more grounds for,” said Cobus de Hart, senior economist at South Africa’s NKC African Economics. — Reuters


February 18, 2019
100 views
HIGHLIGHTS
World
2 hours ago

Baltimore bridge collapse: Divers find two bodies in submerged truck

World
2 hours ago

US urges fair legal process for India opposition leader Arvind Kejriwal

World
2 hours ago

Gaza starvation could amount to war crime, UN human rights chief says