Nigeria's security council lauds military operation in northeast states

Nigeria's Security Council on Tuesday gave a vote of confidence on the military following the successful anti-terrorism operations in the restive northeast region, an officer said.

Chief of Army Staff, Lt. General Kenneth Minimah disclosed this to reporters in Abuja, the nation's capital city at the end of the Council meeting convened by President Goodluck Jonathan.

Only three local governments in northeast Borno state are yet to be liberated from the control of Boko Haram, he added.

"You know Yobe and Adamawa states have been liberated completely and we look forward to the reinstatement of structures of government and governance," he added.

"I am also sure you know that in Borno state out of the 27 local government we have three local governments remaining, Abadam, Kalabaldi and Gwoza and we are optimistic that with time we will liberate those local governments," the military chief said.

Minimah however expressed doubts about full return of governance structures in the liberated communities of the northeast before next week's presidential elections.

The military chief told reporters that he was not in a position to speak on whether elections will hold in the area or would be postponed.

According to him, the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Attahiru Jega, who was part of the meeting, would be the right person to decide on whether the elections will hold.

Nigeria's rescheduled presidential and national assembly elections will be held on March 28, while the governorship and state congresses elections, on April 11.

The elections were previously set on Feb. 14 and Feb. 28 respectively. The country announced on Feb. 7 a six-week postponement to the elections citing fears over security and the Boko Haram insurgency. Endi