Nigeria's North-East Will Be Secure for Election - Govt

The Coordinator of the National Information Centre, Mr. Mike Omeri, has said the insurgency-hit North-east region will be secure enough for voting to take place when delayed elections start on March 28 after a renewed military push against Boko Haram, a government spokesman to Bloomberg on Tuesday.

Nigerian authorities are confident they would have established adequate security to allow the vote to go ahead in the region, Omeri said on a panel in London.

Only three areas in the North-east are under the control of Boko Haram Islamist militants, he said.

Until more than 200 schoolgirls were kidnapped by the group from the North-eastern town of Chibok in April last year, "we underestimated the extent of incursion into our territory," Omeri said.

Afterward, "we swung into action," he said. Most of the girls are still missing. The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) postponed the national vote by six weeks last month after President Goodluck Jonathan's national security adviser said the military needed more time to subdue the rebels and ensure voters' safety. Forces from neighbooring Chad and Niger have joined the fight against the insurgents.

Security forces routed Boko Haram militants from the North-eastern town of Bama in Borno State, while Goniri, the last insurgent "stronghold" in the neighbouring state of Yobe, was recaptured by troops, military spokesman Chris Olukolade said in a statement on Monday.

"Now we have the security cooperation of our neighbours, there's nowhere to go" for the militants, Omeri said. "Citizens will be able to cast their vote." Boko Haram, which has killed thousands in its six-year campaign to impose Islamic law in Africa's largest economy, this month pledged allegiance to Islamic State, which has declared a caliphate in parts of Syria and Iraq. The election pits Jonathan's ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) against a united opposition, led by former military ruler Muhammadu Buhari, in what analysts expect will be the tightest contest since the PDP came to power in 1999.

INEC's Chairman, Prof. Attahiru Jega, said on Monday the security situation has improved since the postponement and the agency is set to hold credible elections.

Out of 68.8 million people on the electoral register, 81 per cent have collected their voter cards.