by Adedayo Ademuwagun

It’s a momentous period for Nigeria right now with seven weeks to the new date for the presidential election. The expectation is getting more serious.

Many people are apprehensive about the way things are getting on. It looks like there’ll be some crisis, and a lot of people are concerned about the election and what it holds for the country now that the election is shifted.

Kazeem says, “The postponement is not a good omen. We don’t know what’s going to happen in the coming weeks and it’s like everyone’s on the alert. People are calling their family and cautioning them to keep their head down. Nobody wants to be a victim. It’s not easy to be optimistic in these circumstances.”

In 2011 there was an upheaval in the north after Jonathan won the election, and hundreds of people were killed in the riots. Jonathan and Buhari also signed a peace deal in Abuja recently, but it’s not done much to inspire confidence that the elections will be safe.

INEC said it postponed the elections to avert potential insecurity, but most people think this is a ploy by the president and his team to buy themselves some more time so they can work out some strategy.

But the INEC chairman Attahiru Jega said, “The commission is specifically concerned about the security of our ad hoc staff who constitute at least 600,000 young men and women [NYSC corpers], our regular staff, voters, election observers and election materials painstakingly acquired over the last one and half years.

“This concern is limited not just to the areas in the northeast experiencing insurgency; the risk of deploying young men and women and calling people to [vote] in a situation where their security cannot be guaranteed is a most onerous responsibility.”

Will this election be fixed?

Nigeria has a poor election record and people think this presidential election might be fixed. There’ll probably be an uproar if the election eventually turns out suspiciously and if people feel the person they voted has been robbed.

Solomon says, “A bad government is a bad government. Jonathan has obviously lost the mandate of the Nigerian people whether the election is held in February or March, We’re not going back on our decision and we won’t accept a fraudulent election.”

The Economist magazine recently said in one of their stories that this election is one between a failed president and a former dictator who has blood on his hands. The story says the election is about choosing the least awful. But some people think their favourite candidate is best for the job.

Kelvin says, “People downplay Goodluck’s achievements because they don’t value them. The thing is Goodluck has done more for the economy and infrastructure than anyone else in the last several decades despite the insecurity. I’m voting Jonathan because I believe in him and I want him to finish the good works he’s doing.”

But some people are on the other side.

Ebiere says, “We’re going to march for Buhari on March 28 no matter what. Jonathan is on his way out already. Change is imminent. The postponement hasn’t made Jonathan any popular. It’s simply given us more reasons to not vote for him. We’ve waited this long. We can wait seven more weeks.”

Some people suspect the election will be shifted again because there’s been no clear assurance that the security people won’t push for another extension, and people plainly think the government is behind this postponement.  But will this election be shifted again?

“That will be a shame,” says Ebiere. “We’re in a precarious situation already and to think the polls will be postponed again is simply unthinkable. Jega and his people must totally reject this farce.”

But it looks like this is really beyond Jega. However, his remark gives some hope.

“We’ll under no circumstances approve an arrangement that is not in line with the provisions of our laws,” he said. “Our hope is that with this rescheduling, the security services will do their best to ensure that the security environment needed for sage and peaceful conduct of the 2015 elections is rapidly put in place.”