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The 16 February 2019 Nigerian Presidential election has become contentious, and those planning travel to Nigeria as part of election “watch or monitoring” teams should take appropriate personal safety and security precautions.
The election has incumbent, President Muhammadu Buhari pitted against challenger, Atiku Abubakar, a former vice president of Nigeria.
On 06 Feb 2019, Buhari ally, Governor of Kaduna State, Nasir El-Rufai warned visiting foreigners, following the demarches from the European Union, the United States and the United Kingdom over the suspension of Nigeria’s Chief Justice, over his allegedly breaching “asset-declaration” rules. The role of Chief Justice is that of arbiter in the event of disputed election results.
Nasir El-Rufai
“We are waiting for the person who will come and intervene. They will go back in body bags because nobody will come to Nigeria and tell us how to run our country,”
The European Union Election Observation Mission acknowledged El-Rufai’s comments/threat and noted they they were coming given that they had been invited by the government noting: “The EU has been invited to observe all of the general elections in Nigeria since 1999. Thus this is the sixth time the EU is observing elections in Nigeria.” The EU continued, “For the last month our team in Abuja, as well as 40 long-term observers across the country, have followed the elections. We’ve met with a wide range of candidates, parties, election officials, security agencies, CSOs, and have enjoyed good cooperation at federal and state levels.”
