"No further shift of elections" - NSA

Nigeria’s general election will not be postponed past March 28, National Security Adviser (NSA), Col. Sambo Dasuki (rtd), said on Monday, after he successfully lobbied for a poll delay because of Boko Haram violence.

“Those dates will not be shifted again,” Dasuki told AFP when asked if the polls, initially scheduled for February 14, could be pushed back further.

Dasuki had urged election officials to postpone the vote on the grounds that the military could not provide nationwide election security because all available resources were being deployed in the North-east to fight Boko Haram.

His justification for the delay was widely criticised, in part because the military is not primarily responsible for election security in Nigeria.