Anambra: EU deploys 687 observers ahead of Saturday gov election

The European Union on Thursday announced the deployment of 687 observers to Anambra State ahead of Saturday’s governorship election under the EU Support to Democratic Governance in Nigeria programme.

Through the programme, the EU is enabling 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.

According to a statement by the EU in Abuja, seven of the 16 EU-SDGN implementing partners, namely the Kukah Centre, Yiaga Africa, International Press Centre, Centre for Media and Society, Nigeria Women Trust Fund, ElectHER, and TAF Africa, are already on the ground in Anambra State.

“The key feature of this unified deployment is to obtain a broad view of the election by utilising the diverse skills and experience of the EU-SDGN partners, analysing the findings, and compiling them into a comprehensive report that will be made public and available to all stakeholders.

In total, the programme is deploying 687 observers across Anambra State, working in coordinated clusters that cover election integrity, disability inclusion, gender participation, peacebuilding, media and misinformation tracking, logistics observation, and real-time data reporting.

“This is 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 those findings are merged, they offer a fuller, verifiable picture of the election that no single organisation could produce alone,” the statement read.

The observers are distributed across several thematic areas, including election integrity and results verification; disability inclusion with trained observers and stand-alone sign language interpreters; gender participation with observers tracking women-related issues; media and misinformation tracking through journalists and fact-checkers deployed across polling locations; peacebuilding and conflict prevention; and the monitoring of polling logistics and the distribution of sensitive election materials.

Earlier this week, the EU-SDGN programme supported the signing of the Anambra Election Peace Accord involving all candidates and political parties.

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

In addition, ahead of the governorship election, the EU-SDGN programme also presented a Joint Pre-Election Assessment Report.

The report analysed the political climate, security risks, media environment, and levels of gender and disability inclusion, and offered 66 actionable recommendations to strengthen electoral credibility, voter access, and institutional preparedness.

The EU-SDGN is an EU-funded Nigerian civil society-led programme working to strengthen credible, inclusive, and peaceful elections across the country.

The Independent National Electoral Commission has declared full readiness for the governorship election slated for Saturday, November 8, 2025, in the 5,718 wards across the state.

The Chairman of the commission, Prof. Joash Amupitan, during a stakeholders meeting in Awka, said about 24,000 ad hoc staff will be deployed while about 540 journalists have been accredited to cover the election, adding that the commission is fully committed to the governorship poll in line with its commitment to credible and inclusive elections.

According to INEC, 16 candidates from 16 political parties are contesting the governorship election to wrest power from the incumbent, Prof. Chukwuma Soludo, who is also seeking reelection under the platform of All Progressives Grand Alliance.