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Nigeria panel confirms elections will take place on Saturday

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AFP Abuja
Last Updated : Feb 21 2019 | 9:15 PM IST

Nigeria's rescheduled presidential and parliamentary elections will take place this weekend, the electoral commission said on Thursday, adding there would be not be a second delay.

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) announced a one-week postponement last Saturday, just hours before polls were due to open, triggering widespread anger.

Logistical issues in the delivery of ballot papers and election material were blamed, leading to a scramble to be ready in time for the new date.

In an update on preparations, INEC chairman Mahmood Yakubu told a news conference in the capital, Abuja, that the panel was "fully on course" for voting this weekend.

Election materials had already been delivered to 19 out of Nigeria's 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory of Abuja, he said.

All states bar one would have received them by the end of the day, he added.

"I want to reassure you that elections will hold on Saturday," Yakubu told reporters.

"There won't be another postponement. The commission does not envisage there will be a postponement of the election scheduled for 9th March."

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First Published: Feb 21 2019 | 9:15 PM IST

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