Jonathan Postponed Elections To Frustrate Buhari- New York Times

New York Times, a United States-based publication has said
the postponement of the elections by the Independent National Electoral
Commission, INEC, was arranged by President Goodluck Jonathan to frustrate Gen
Muhammadu Buhari of the All Progressives Congress. Read the full publication titled ”Nigeria’s Miserable Choices” below.

The Nigerian government was supposed to hold presidential
elections this past weekend, which presented voters with the dispiriting choice
of keeping a lousy incumbent or returning to power a former autocratic leader.
Now they will have to wait at least six weeks to cast votes.

The Nigerian election commission said earlier this month
that it had pushed back the vote until at least March 28, after the country’s
security chiefs warned that they could not guarantee the safety of voters in
northeastern areas of the country where Boko Haram, the extremist militant
group, captured international attention last spring when it abducted hundreds
of schoolgirls.

On Friday, Boko Haram fighters attacked a village in
neighboring Chad for the first time, an alarming sign of the group’s expanding
strength in a region that also includes areas of Cameroon and Niger.

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 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, Mr. Jonathan stands to
deplete his rival’s campaign coffers, while he continues to use state funds and
institutions to bankroll his own.

That Mr. Buhari, who helped launch a coup against a
democratically elected government in 1983 and ruled until late 1985, has
emerged as potential winner is more of an indictment of Mr. Jonathan’s dismal
rule than a recognition of the former military chief’s appeal.

Nigerian voters have grown increasingly worried about the
stunning rise of Boko Haram, which has committed terrorist atrocities including
bombings. 

The abductions and attacks by the group have exposed the
weaknesses of Nigeria’s armed forces and the dysfunction of the government.
Although Mr. Jonathan’s government has in the past been less than enthusiastic,
and at times obstructive, in response to offers of American and European aid,
he appears to be growing increasingly worried. In an interview with The Wall
Street Journal last week, he said he would welcome American troops to fight the
insurgency. 

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 have also caused Nigerians to look for
new leadership.

Nigeria, the most populous nation in Africa, and a
relatively young democracy, cannot afford an electoral crisis. That would only
set back the faltering effort 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.