The announcement was made in the early hours of Saturday by the chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Professor Mahmood Yakubu.
![The union embarked on a strike over the non-payment of a 40% peculiar allowance by the state government [Niche NG]](data:image/svg+xml;charset=utf8,%3Csvg%20xmlns%3D'http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg'%20width%3D'100'%20height%3D'100'%20data-ring-placeholder%3D'1'%3E%3C%2Fsvg%3E "The union embarked on a strike over the non-payment of a 40% peculiar allowance by the state government [Niche NG]")
"Following a careful review of the implementation of its logistics and operational plan and the determination to conduct free, fair and credible elections, the Commission came to the conclusion that proceeding with the elections as scheduled is no longer feasible".
"Consequently, the commission has decided to reschedule the Presidential and National Assembly Elections to Saturday, 23rd February 2019. Furthermore, the Governorship, State House of Assembly and Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Area Council Elections is rescheduled to Saturday, 9th March 2019.
"This will afford the Commission the opportunity to address identified challenges in order to maintain the quality of our elections," the INEC boss stated.
The announcement has sparked a lot of reaction on social media with Nigerians lamenting over the decision taken by the electoral body.
Here are some of the reactions:
INEC said the decision to postpone the elections was a difficult one to take.
According to INEC chairman, the electoral body will meet key stakeholders to update them on the development by 2pm at the Abuja International Conference center.
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![Aliko Dangote and Tinubu [NAN]](data:image/svg+xml;charset=utf8,%3Csvg%20xmlns%3D'http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg'%20width%3D'300'%20height%3D'172'%20data-ring-placeholder%3D'1'%3E%3C%2Fsvg%3E "Aliko Dangote and Tinubu [NAN]")
