Nigeria presidential elections under threat from Boko Haram insurgency

Nigeria is considering delaying its election for up to two months to give itself more time to fight against the Islamic militant group Boko Haram.

Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan met with country's top political leaders to discuss the proposals, which have been pushed by Nigeria's military.

Boko Haram have slaughtered thousands of people Nigeria - Africa's most populous country - and the army believe more time is needed before the country stages an election to help fight against the insurgence.

The presidential polls are scheduled to take place in Nigeria on 14 February.

The rise of Boko Haram causes problems for the 1.5 million people who have been displaced by the group as Nigerian law states people must cast their vote in their own constituency.

Boko Haram has also warned that it will kill Nigerians who vote in the upcoming election.

The idea to delay the election has come under scrutiny by certain politicians in an election campaign which has already risked being extended following issues over the distribution of voter ID cards.

"We are working on making the election as scheduled," the country's Independent Electoral Commission (INEC) spokesman Nick Dazang, told the Wall Street Journal.

"People are merely making their noises. We are just amused."

Amina Zachary, a commissioner INEC, said the government will see how successful the voter card distribution goes on 8 February, but said a delay in the election is not being considered as yet.

"We are continuing with our distribution. We are watching the distribution. We may extend the distribution but nobody talked about extension of an election, a delay in the election," she told Reuters.

INEC extended its deadline for voters to collect their cards to 8 February, but only 44 million out of 68.8 million have been distributed so far.

Jonathan's opposition, Muhammadu Buhari, a former military dictator, accused the president of wanting to delay the vote to bide him more time to win a second term.