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Windhoek - Namibia's electoral commission on Sunday night in a surprise move announced the official release of final election results would only take place on Monday.
"We wanted to announce the results tonight but we are still verifying and auditing results but we want to do it in a proper time and will announce the results tomorrow [Monday]," chief elections officer Paul Isaak said on Sunday night.
"We sincerely apologise for the inconvenience."
The announcement was broadcast live on the national broadcaster Namibia Broadcasting Corporation.
Journalists started flocking to the Election House in the early evening in anticipation of a possible announcement. Parking areas there had been cleared for the arrival of President Hifikepunye Pohamba and his likely successor, incumbent Prime Minister Hage Geingob. Two hours later, however, the two politicians had still not arrived.
Shortly after 21:00, Isaak apologised to the nation for the announcement delay.
The electoral commission backpedalled on its earlier promise to announce final results within 48 hours after polls closed on Friday night.
Namibia's fourth elections since independence in 1990 were plagued by delays due to problems experienced at polling stations with the newly introduced electronic voting machines and handheld scanners to verify voter cards and fingerprints of voters.
