Popular US-Based Newspaper, New York Times has said that the postponement of the elections will make security threat worse rather than reduce it because security forces may not be able to safeguard many districts on that day.
In its editorial on Monday edition titled, “Nigeria’s Miserable Choices,” the 164 year-old newspaper said “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.”
The newspaper also accused President Goodluck Jonathan of deliberately postponing the elections because of All Progressives Congress presidential candidate General Mohammadu Buhari’s growing popularity.
The newspaper said “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.”
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