Jonathan says no involvement in poll delay

Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan has denied having influenced the decision of the country's Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to postpone parliamentary and presidential elections from February 14 to March 28, 2015.

"I don't decide the date," Jonathan told national broadcaster Nigerian Television Authority. "The Commission "did not consult me."

Jonathan's remarks appear not to have assuaged concerns that the delay was politically motivated.

Jibril Ibrahim, lecturer in political science at the University of Abuja, told DW on Thursday (12.02.2015) the political atmosphere in Nigeria was very tense for the simple reason that there was a lot of suspicion that the government was trying to scuttle the elections.

"The reason people think the government is trying to scuttle the elections is the way they forced the INEC to postpone it by six weeks. All the indications and polls show that the leading opposition candidate Muhammadu Buhari has got momentum and is going to win the elections and I think the ruling party is alarmed at this prospect," he said.

'If I lose, I'm ready to hand over'

The poll will pit Jonathan of the People's Democratic Party (PDP) against Buhari, a former military ruler, of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in what is likely to be the most hotly contested election since the end of military rule in 1999.

Jonathan denied allegations that he was trying to cling to power.

"If I lose, I am ready to hand over," he said. He added that the "international community" occasionally sees election delays in Africa as an excuse by the incumbent to "extend tenure."

But Jonathan insisted "that is not the case in Nigeria."

Election officials were urged by Nigeria's National Security Agency and top military commanders to push back the vote. The military said most of the available troops had been sent to the northeast to fight the militant Islamist group Boko Haram and would therefore be unable to provide nationwide security on polling day.

It was uncertain whether the military would be able to produce significant improvements to security by March 28, the new poll date.

"Nobody is saying Boko Haram is wiped out completely," Jonathan said, "but in the next six weeks we will achieve much."

Girls not yet brought back

The difficulties encountered by the Nigerian military in trying to defeat the Boko Haram insurgency were highlighted when the Islamist militants kidnapped more than 276 teenagers from the Government Girls' Secondary School in the remote town of Chibok, in Borno state, on April 14, 2014.

There were worldwide protests and the #BringBackOurGirls hashtag was born. But ten months later most of the girls are still missing.

Jonathan promised on Wednesday - not for the first time - that the girls would be brought home alive.

"Give us some time over the Chibok girls. The story will be better in a few weeks," he said.

Jonathan also said he was "more hopeful" about their fate now that a multinational force was being formed to fight Boko Haram.

Troops from Chad, Cameroon and Niger have already been deployed to fight the Islamists.

On Wednesday, Boko Haram launched a pre-dawn raid in Gamboru, looking to overwhelm Chadian troops who had pushed them out of the northeastern Nigerian border town.

The Chadian military in N'Djamena said the militants were repelled, but the counter-attack was an indication of the task facing regional forces aiming to crush the rebellion.

The insurgency has claimed more than 13,000 lives since 2009.

Jonathan's challenger Buhari has promised not only to do a better job than the incumbent in protecting citizens from Boko Haram but also in uprooting corruption.

But Kabirou Tanimoune Turnki, one of Jonathan's key campaign officials in northern Nigeria, told DW the president had taken steps to ensure that prosecution agencies in Nigeria were made more independent. The most important thing when fighting graft was to "strengthen institutions." If this is not done, "when you fight corruption, it will fight you back."

Jibril Ibrahim sees corruption as a major issue. "I think Nigeria deserves a leader who is able to address a fundamental problem of corruption. The current president has shown himself to be incapable of addressing the problems of corruption."

.