Twenty one Resident Electoral Commissioners, RECs, of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, have rejected a proposal to postpone Nigeria’s general elections billed for February 14 and 28.
In a vote conducted Saturday by the INEC chairman, Attahiru Jega, after he met with political parties and the civil society, 21 RECs said the elections should continue as planned while 16 others voted in support of a reschedule.
Nigeria has 37 RECs, each for a state and the Federal Capital, Abuja.
The outcome of the vote came as Nigerians await INEC’s decision on whether the elections are moved or not.
Civil Society leaders said Mr. Jega had told them at their meeting that the commission was under pressure to postpone the polls after all security agencies, including the military and the police, warned that they will only support polls held at least six weeks after the current dates.