Nigeria’s External Image and Global Responses to the Postponing of the 2019 General Elections: A Preliminary Investigation

This paper interrogates the shifting of the 2019 general elections in Nigeria and the international responses it elicited. It notes that Nigeria’s national elections were previously postponed in 2011 and 2015. However, the 2019 episode attracted a lot of attention given the growing political consciousness of the electorates, the timing of the postponement and global expectations. In other word, the postponement has far reaching effect on the nation’s external image and draw responses arising from the place of Nigeria in Africa’s democracy and global politics. Based on preliminary investigation gleaned from reports, comments and opinions used as instruments to measured the effect of the electoral processes, the paper upholds that the shifting of the February 16, 2019 political This paper interrogates the shifting of the 2019 general elections in Nigeria and the international responses it elicited. It notes that Nigeria’s national elections were previously postponed in 2011 and 2015. However, the 2019 episode attracted a lot of attention given the growing political consciousness of the electorates, the timing of the postponement and global expectations. In other word, the postponement has far reaching effect on the nation’s external image and draw responses arising from the place of Nigeria in Africa’s democracy and global politics. Based on preliminary investigation gleaned from reports, comments and opinions used as instruments to measured the effect of the electoral processes, the paper upholds that the shifting of the February 16, 2019 political event to February 23, 2019 few hours to it by the Independent National Electoral Commission on the basis of logistics and operational excuses does not portrayed the nation well in the diplomatic community. Therefore, initial responses and comments from the International Elections Observation Missions, the United Kingdom and the United States appeared not to have properly gauged the quantum of damages done to Nigeria by the re-scheduling of the dates as comments and responses seems to have at best been couched to douse tension and to avoid diplomatic blunder and row. The paper concludes that since the damage has been done it is incumbent on the citizens, diplomats, scholars and INEC to redress the image of the country in the global community through citizenship diplomacy, good representations, writings that aimed at correcting the anomaly to project the country well abroad and adequate preparation for the next elections and proper conduct of it