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Nigeria counts cost of postponed presidential poll
LAGOS, Feb 17, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – Nigerians who were surprised when the
country’s presidential election was postponed Saturday might suffer a second
shock when they learn the cost, some economists and business leaders say.
“The cost to the economy of the postponement of the election is
horrendous,” said Muda Yusuf, general director of the Lagos Chamber of
Commerce and Industry who advanced an estimate of $1.5 billion.
“The economy was on partial shutdown the day before, and total shut down on
Saturday for the elections” that did not take place, he explained.
The streets of Lagos were still empty early Sunday as the sprawling
economic capital of 20 million people recovered from the disappointment and
anger provoked by a last minute, one-week delay blamed on logistical issues.
The Independent Electoral Commission announced the delay just hours before
polls to elect the head of Africa’s most populous nation and members of
parliament were to open.
The INEC cited problems in the distribution of ballot papers and results
sheets, as well as sabotage, after three fires at its offices in two weeks.
The leading candidates, incumbent President Muhammadu Buhari and challenger
Abubakar Atiku, both called for calm, but a population of 190 million people
facing unemployment and extreme poverty took a real financial hit from the
decision.
For many, the cost of leaving cities where they work to go home and vote
in their native regions is substantial.
Social media was used meanwhile to organise collections for street vendors
who had bought perishable items to sell to voters that often wait in long
lines.
The amount ultimately raised was unlikely to make much difference to tens
of millions of people who live on less than $1.9 a day, but it did highlight
solidarity not always widespread in the country.
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Many businesses, including the critical port of Lagos, had shut down Friday
so staff could leave cities before an election-related curfew took effect on
Saturday from 8:00 am to 6:00 pm.
Airports and border crossing points had stopped operating as well.
For economist Bismark Rewane however, “the most important cost … is the
reputational cost.
“Investors’ confidence will be eroded” and in the long term, when indirect
costs were taken into account, the delay might cost the equivalent of two
percentage points of national output, he said.
In currency terms, Rewane estimated the possible cost at “nine to 10
billion dollars.”
BSS/AFP/SR/1745 HRS