From Stock Market To Weddings & More: Vote Delay Wreaks Havoc In The Country

The band was booked, invitations had been sent to guests and caterers hired to prepare a range of local specialities, including jollof rice and pounded yam. Agnes Adedipe, a 28-year-old resident of Lagos, thought her March 28 wedding was coming together: then national elections were postponed to the same date. “I am confused, angry and completely lost,” she told AFP.

Nigeria’s widely-criticised decision at the weekend to postpone the polls by six weeks because of violence by Islamist group Boko Haram has reverberated around the country. The political uncertainty has further hurt an economy already hit by low global oil prices and led to warnings of a looming constitutional crisis.

But that offered little comfort to Adedipe, who sobbed as she contemplated reorganising her wedding in just six weeks. “This postponement has ruined my marriage plan,” she said.

Nigeria’s economy, the largest in Africa and driven by crude exports, has been hammered by the slide in global oil prices and the election delay has only made things worse. The naira currency hit a record low on Wednesday (203.1 against the US dollar) leading to concern that an extended period of political limbo will have wider consequences.

Razia Khan, head of Africa research at Standard Chartered, warned of “additional uncertainty” caused by the campaign extension and said needed policy adjustments to cope with falling oil prices could be delayed.

The stock market has also been depressed by a political environment “riddled with uncertainty and negativity”, added Gabriel Ilori Akinyemi, managing director of Valmon Securities in Lagos.