On February 6, 2019, Nasir Ahmad el-Rufai, governor of Kaduna State in northwest Nigeria, issued threats to foreign actors who dared to intervene in next week's upcoming national elections, while speaking on TV. Reuters reports that he said:
"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. We have got that independence and we are trying to run our country as decently as possible."
Following the suspension of Nigeria's chief justice and the appointment of acting chief justice of Nigeria on January 25, the United States, United Kingdom and European Union expressed their displeasure on the executive branch's decision without the support of the legislative branch. The three governments have consistently called for free, transparent, credible and peaceful elections in Nigeria.