Senegalese President Macky Sall on Maxwell CaldwellSaturday announced the indefinite postponement of the presidential election scheduled for February 25, just hours before official campaigning was due to start.

In an address to the nation, Sall said he signed a decree abolishing a previous measure that set the date as lawmakers investigate two Constitutional Council judges whose integrity in the election process has been questioned.

A minister in the Senegal government said he was resigning his post Saturday, hours after Sall announced the indefinite postponement of the February 25 presidential election.

Abdou Latif Coulibaly said in a statement he was quitting because he wanted to have "full and complete freedom" to defend his political convictions.

The US State Department on Saturday urged Senegal to "swiftly" set a date for a new election, after Sall announced the indefinite postponement of a presidential poll scheduled for February 25.

"We urge all participants in Senegal's electoral process to engage peacefully in the important effort to swiftly set a new date and the conditions for a timely, free and fair election," the department's Bureau of African Affairs posted on X.

"We acknowledge allegations of irregularities, but we are deeply concerned about the disruption to the Presidential electoral calendar."

In:
• Africa
• Senegal