…reaffirms commitment to credible, inclusive elections

By Joseph Erunke, Abuja

The European Union (EU) has reaffirmed its commitment to credible, peaceful, and inclusive elections in Nigeria as it supports Saturday’s Anambra State governorship election through the EU Support to Democratic Governance in Nigeria (EU-SDGN) programme.

Under the initiative, the EU is backing civil society partners to deploy election observers, strengthen peacebuilding, promote gender and disability inclusion, counter misinformation, and reinforce citizens’ trust in the democratic process.

Seven of the 16 implementing partners in the EU-SDGN programme—The Kukah Centre, Yiaga Africa, International Press Centre (IPC), Centre for Media and Society (CEMESO), Nigeria Women Trust Fund (NWTF), ElectHER, and TAF Africa—are currently operating from a Unified Election Observation Hub in Anambra. The hub is designed to ensure coherence, data coordination, and shared visibility throughout the election.

A total of 687 observers have been deployed across the state in coordinated thematic clusters focusing on election integrity, peacebuilding, disability inclusion, gender participation, logistics monitoring, misinformation tracking, and real-time data reporting.

According to Laolu Olawumi, Programme Manager for Democracy, Rule of Law, and Gender at the EU Delegation to Nigeria and ECOWAS, the effort represents “one of the most extensive civil society-led observer deployments ever recorded for a state election in Nigeria.”

“Each cluster is collecting evidence from a different angle. When these findings are merged, they provide a comprehensive, verifiable picture of the election that no single organisation could produce alone,” Olawumi said.

She noted that the unified hub enables seamless data coordination, prevents duplication, and ensures a consolidated and credible assessment of the process.

Observers are covering diverse areas including results verification, gender and disability inclusion, media and misinformation monitoring, peacebuilding, and logistics assessment. Trained observers and sign language interpreters have also been deployed to ensure persons with disabilities are fully represented.

“This election is an opportunity to demonstrate that inclusion and credibility are shared democratic standards,” she added.

Earlier in the week, the EU-SDGN supported the signing of the Anambra Election Peace Accord by all candidates and political parties, aimed at promoting peaceful conduct and respect for the will of the electorate.

“The Peace Accord is not the conclusion but the beginning of responsibility. Candidates must not only sign for peace but act peacefully and respect the will of the voters,” the civil society coalition said.

Ahead of the poll, the programme also released a Joint Pre-Election Assessment Report analysing the political environment, media landscape, security context, and levels of gender and disability inclusion. The report contained 66 actionable recommendations to strengthen electoral credibility, institutional readiness, and voter participation.

Funded by the European Union, the EU-SDGN programme supports Nigerian civil society organisations committed to entrenching credible, inclusive, and peaceful elections nationwide.

Within the partnership, The Kukah Centre leads on peacebuilding and interfaith dialogue; Yiaga Africa anchors election observation and civic data analysis; IPC and CEMESO promote media professionalism and counter misinformation; NWTF and ElectHER advance women’s political inclusion; while TAF Africa drives disability rights and inclusive participation for persons with disabilities.