16 states in Nigeria asked the Supreme Court to force the central bank to extend by six months the use of old banknotes, whose withdrawal from circulation has caused cash shortages ahead of weekend elections. The shortage of naira notes has angered citizens with some of them attacking banks and burning cash-dispensing machines.
Related stories: Cash shortage in Nigeria due to redesigned currency push
Video - New currency in Nigeria to affect small businesses according to World Bank
Nigeria’s election commission said Thursday it now has received much of the cash it needs to carry out this weekend’s elections, dismissing concerns that the vote would be postponed because of the country’s banknote crisis.
Meanwhile, though, Nigerians continued to line up at banks across Africa’s most populous nation, unable to withdraw their money. The shortages fueled fears that voters could have trouble getting to their polling stations on Saturday.
Authorities have in the past delayed Nigeria’s last two presidential elections, but the Independent National Electoral Commission said Thursday that election materials and staffers were being deployed to more than 175,000 voting units across Nigeria.
“I want to assure Nigerians that we are adequately prepared for this election,“ INEC chairman Mahmood Yakubu said at a news conference in the capital, Abuja.
Still, he noted that 6.2 million eligible voters had not picked up their voting cards in time for Saturday’s vote.
Hussaini Abdu with YIAGA Africa, a nonprofit group promoting electoral reforms in Nigeria, feared people could have difficulties getting to polling stations on Saturday or lose interest altogether.
“The growing discontent among citizens may lead to voter apathy in the form of protest, which will eventually lead to low voter turnouts,” Abdu said.
Nigerian voters are to choose a new president on Saturday from a field of 18 candidates following the second and final term of incumbent President Muhammadu Buhari.
Three front-runners have emerged, including the ruling party’s Bola Tinubu and the main opposition’s Atiku Abubakar. Peter Obi, a third-party hopeful who has been favored in most polls, has broken the usual cycle of two-candidate races.
In a tweet Thursday, Buhari urged election officials and security agencies “to be firm and courageous, and to abide by the laws and constitutional provisions in conducting the elections.”
Authorities announced in November that they were replacing Nigeria’s currency, the naira, with new, redesigned notes for the first time in nearly two decades. But with the change coming just before the election, everyone from vendors to government officials have struggled to have enough money on hand in a country still heavily dependent on its cash economy.
On Thursday, the election commission also sought to reassure Nigerians that the country’s security challenges were being addressed as well.
Observers have expressed concerns about the safety of voters and election workers, particularly in the north where thousands have died in the last year because of violence linked to Islamic extremists and banditry.
Violence directed at polling stations in the southeast where separatists are active also has created unease about the vote.
A senate candidate for the Labour Party was burned to death by gunmen, police said Thursday, the latest in a spiral of violence that analysts fear could affect voter turnout.
Chinedu Asadu, AP
Related stories: Video - Next President of Nigeria has a full plate already
A Senate candidate from Nigeria's opposition Labour Party has been shot and killed in the southeast. It is the latest incident amid a spate of violence ahead of Saturday's election. Al Jazeera's Haru Mutasa reports from Enugu, Nigeria.
Related stories: Senate candidate killed three days before election in Nigeria
President Biden calls for peaceful, transparent election in Nigeria
A senatorial candidate from Nigeria's opposition Labour Party was killed late on Wednesday by unknown gunmen in southeastern Enugu State, a local party official said on Thursday, the latest violent incident ahead of a momentous national election.
Nigerians are due to elect their next president and lawmakers on Saturday. President Muhammadu Buhari is stepping down after serving the maximum two terms allowed by the constitution.
The three-man race to be his successor is seen as the most unpredictable in recent history and the run-up to the election has been marred by violence, a pattern seen in previous polls in Africa's most populous country.
Police confirmed the killing of Labour Party candidate Oyibo Chukwu, which came hours after the parties and presidential candidates signed a pledge to support a peaceful electoral process.
Chinwuba Ngwu, the Labour Party chairman in the Enugu South local government area, said Chukwu had been ambushed and killed as he travelled back from a campaign event.
"He was shot dead and then set ablaze in his vehicle with his driver and one of his boys," Ngwu said.
"It is a devastating development for us. We are suspecting political assassination because he is favoured to win the election," he said.
A police spokesperson in Enugu State said they would issue a statement later.
U.S. President Joe Biden earlier called for a peaceful, transparent election, urging parties and candidates to accept the results when they are published by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
"All Nigerians deserve this chance to choose their future — freely and fairly," Biden said in a statement.
"While the United States does not support any single candidate or party, we strongly support a peaceful and transparent process that reflects the will of the people of Nigeria."
The main candidates for president are former Lagos governor Bola Tinubu, 70, who represents the ruling party, former vice president Atiku Abubakar, 76, who represents the main opposition party that was in power from 1999 to 2015, and Peter Obi, 61, an anti-establishment candidate popular among many young voters.
Obi, an ethnic Igbo, is running on the Labour Party ticket. He is particularly popular in the Igbo heartland in southeastern Nigeria, which includes Enugu State, and this may have boosted the lesser known party's profile in the region.
By Estelle Shirbon, Reuters
Related story: Video - Elections to go on despite security concerns in Nigeria
U.S. President Joe Biden called on Thursday for Nigeria's imminent presidential election to be peaceful and transparent, urging candidates and parties to accept the results as announced by the country's electoral commission.
More than 93 million Nigerians, out of a total population of over 200 million, are registered to vote in Saturday's presidential and parliamentary election, seen as the most wide open since the country returned to democracy in 1999.
"I commend yesterday's peace accord in Nigeria," Biden said in a statement, referring to a pledge signed by all candidates on Wednesday to seek redress through the courts for any grievances.
"By signing this pledge, the parties and candidates have committed to accept the results of the election, as announced by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), and to support a peaceful transition of power," he said.
Nigeria has a long history of electoral fraud and violence, though its elections have got gradually cleaner in the near quarter century since it moved away from army rule. INEC says it has taken measures to ensure voting will be free and fair.
"All Nigerians deserve this chance to choose their future — freely and fairly," Biden said.
"While the United States does not support any single candidate or party, we strongly support a peaceful and transparent process that reflects the will of the people of Nigeria."
Nigeria is Africa's most populous nation, its biggest economy and its top producer of crude oil.
By Estelle Shirbon, Reuters
Related story: President Buhari sets transition to a new leader in motion
