News reaching ViewPointNigeria suggests that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) will postpone the February 14th Presidential and National legislative elections for six weeks.

An official close to the organisation who spoke anonymously stated that the shift will enable the multinational force secure the north eastern part of the country ravaged by the Boko Haram insurgency.

News reaching ViewPointNigeria suggests that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) will postpone the February 14th Presidential and National legislative elections for six weeks.

An official close to the organisation who spoke anonymously stated that the shift will enable the multinational force secure the north eastern part of the country ravaged by the Boko Haram insurgency.

He added that millions could be disenfranchised if the election was to go ahead despite the insurgency in the region that has displaced about 1.5 million people from their homes.

A major offensive is currently going on in the region by the multinational forces comprising of troops from Nigeria, Niger, Chad and Cameroun. The offensive includes air and land attacks and will be expanded soon with an enlarged military force authorised by the African Union (AU).

The source added that the postponement will also give INEC the time to distribute millions of Permanent Voter Cards (PVC) to voters.

It will be recalled that there have been calls for the shift of elections to a later date by a section of the society while another section has rejected the call and urged INEC to go ahead on the schedule dates.

The commission is expected to make an official statement to this effect later in the day.

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INEC set to shift election dates by 6 weeks