Nigeria election boss rules out poll delay as army claims gains

Nigeria’s elections chief Wednesday ruled out any further postponement to upcoming presidential and parliamentary polls, despite Boko Haram vowing to stymie the ballot. Any additional delay to the vote, which was postponed by six weeks over security concerns related to Boko Haram’s bloody insurgency in the northeast, would be “unconstitutional” electoral commission chairman Attahiru Jega told the Senate.

This election will not be held even if we are dead…

Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau said in a new video, in what appeared to the first from the group released on Twitter.

His remarks came as the Nigerian and Chadian armies claimed to have between them killed over 400 fighters from the jihadist group, as its war increasingly sucked in neighbours Cameroon, Chad and Niger. But the gains were overshadowed by 36 civilian deaths in an unexplained airstrike in Niger. The latest fighting comes as the tide has appeared to turn against Boko Haram, with neighbouring countries plagued by cross border attacks weighing in against the insurgents. The growing cooperation between the countries is also attracting donor support to fight the Islamists, with the U.S. army providing equipment and intelligence to allies.

Africa Boko Haram