The European Union has reaffirmed its c o m m i t m e n t to credible, peaceful, and inclusive electoral processes and deployed 687 observers across Anambra State for the Saturday gubernatorial elections through the EU Support to Democratic Governance in Nigeria (EU-SDGN) programme.

The observers work in coordinated clusters that cover election integrity, disability inclusion, gender participation, peacebuilding, media and misinformation tracking, and logistics Through the EU-SDGN programme, the EU enables its civil society partners to deploy election observers, strengthen peacebuilding, advance disability and gender inclusion, counter misinformation, and reinforce public confidence in the democratic process.

Seven of the 16 EUSDGN implementing partners, 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 already on ground in Anambra State, operating from a Unified Election Observation Hub designed to ensure coherence, message alignment, and shared visibility throughout the poll.

Acct to the Programme Manager, Democracy, Rule of Law and Gender, Delegation of the European Union to the Federal Republic of Nigeria and ECOWAS, Laolu Olawumi, the key feature of the unified deployment was to obtain a broad view of the election by utilising the diverse skills and experience of the EU-SDGN partners, analyse the findings, and compile them into a comprehensive report that will be made public and available to all stakeholders.

She said: “This is one of the most extensive civil society-led observer deployments ever recorded for a state election in Nigeria.”