Sources: Vanguard and Nigeria Public Holidays. Earlier this morning, the Nigerian Federal Government declared today, Friday April 20, 2007, the day before the Legislative and Presidential Elections, a public holiday, in a move similar to that of last week, when it declared a two-day public holiday at the last moment to prevent the courts from ruling on the gubernatorial elections of April 14.Analysis: Business life should come to a standstill even greater than on usual public holidays, as this last minute declaration of a public holiday will have the effect of preventing the courts from ruling on issues related to tomorrow's elections, and will most likely further inflame tempers which had been running high earlier this week, particularly in the northern half of the country.
On the other hand, in the southern, more easy-going, part of the country, people may not react negatively to this last minute declaration of a public holiday, after all. Indeed, there are reports that yesterday, Thursday, in some cities, most government and office workers had stayed at home for the day, arguing that "since last week Thursday and Friday were declared work free days to enable them participate in the governorship and house of assembly elections there was no reason why they should not enjoy the same number of days this week as public holidays".
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