LAGOS, Nigeria – Officials are delaying next week's gubernatorial elections in two northern Nigerian states that have been wracked by deadly riots since the presidential vote.
Attahiru Jega, chief of Nigeria's Independent Election Commission, said Thursday that polls cannot go ahead in the states of Kaduna and Bauchi.
The announcement came just hours after President Goodluck Jonathan vowed that elections for state governors would go ahead as scheduled.
Jega said that votes in those two states will take place Thursday instead of Tuesday.
Muslim rioters burned homes, churches and police stations after results showed Nigeria's Christian president had beaten his closest Muslim opponent in Saturday's vote. Reprisal attacks by Christians began almost immediately.
THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below.
LAGOS, Nigeria (AP) — Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan said Thursday that next week's gubernatorial elections will go ahead, despite the riots that have left more than 100 dead and forced 40,000 others to flee following the recent presidential vote in Africa's most populous nation.
Muslim rioters burned homes, churches and police stations after results showed Nigeria's Christian president had beaten his closest Muslim opponent in Saturday's vote. Reprisal attacks by Christians began almost immediately. Some Christian community leaders have threatened to boycott Tuesday's elections for state governors because of security concerns.
In a televised address to the nation Thursday, Jonathan said calm was being restored to the troubled parts of the oil-rich country. The upcoming polls will go ahead for gubernatorial elections in 31 of the country's 36 states; elections in the other five already had been postponed.
"We are shocked by these horrific acts which strike at the heart of our nation," Jonathan said. "These disturbances are more than mere political protests. Clearly, they aim to frustrate the remaining elections."
Jonathan also urged religious leaders "not to use the sacredness of our places of worship to promote messages that could lead to hate."
Nigeria has a long history of violent and rigged polls since it abandoned a revolving door of military rulers and embraced democracy 12 years ago. However, observers largely said Saturday's presidential election appeared to be fair, and the U.S. State Department said it was a significant improvement over the last poll in 2007.
The nation of 150 million people is divided between the Christian-dominated south and the Muslim north. A dozen states across Nigeria's north have Islamic Shariah law in place, though the area remains under the control of secular state governments.
But there are concerns that the unrest will keep fearful voters from the polls. Already some groups are threatening to stay home unless security is tightened.
"If there is no adequate security in place, we are afraid Christians may not be able to participate in the gubernatorial election," said the Rev. Musa M. Tula, Bauchi state chairman of the Christian Association of Nigeria. "This is because we can no longer afford to lose the lives and properties of our people."
Thousands have been killed in religious violence across Nigeria in the past decade. In Kaduna alone, more than 2,000 died as the government moved to enact Islamic Shariah law in 2000. In 2002, rioting over a newspaper article suggesting the Prophet Muhammad would have married a Miss World pageant contestant killed dozens here. But the roots of the sectarian conflict across the north often have more to do with struggles for political and economic dominance.
Many northerners wanted the country's ruling party to nominate a Muslim candidate this year because President Goodluck Jonathan — a Christian from the south — had only taken power because the Muslim elected leader died before finishing his term. However, Jonathan prevailed in the ruling party's primary and became its candidate for president.
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Associated Press writer Shehu Saulawa in Bauchi, Nigeria, contributed to this report.
