Postponing Nigeria's Elections Buys President Time

Following weeks of debate, Nigeria's electoral commission has postponed the country's presidential election from Feb. 14 to March 28. According to the commission, the military does not have enough troops to maintain security at voting booths after a major deployment of forces for an offensive against Boko Haram in the country's northeast. In reality, the six-week delay will neither make the affected areas safer nor prevent attacks on polling stations. Instead, the delay is meant to buy President Goodluck Jonathan time to recover after a month of political difficulties.