The Nigeria Election Data Observatory, NEDO, a consortium of five civil society organisations, says it will deploy more than 4,000 observers to monitor the 2027 general elections across Nigeria.
The Country Director of Dataphyte Foundation, Oluseyi Olufemi, disclosed this on Tuesday in Abuja during the unveiling of NEDO and its civic technology application ahead of the elections.
The consortium comprises Dataphyte Foundation, YIAGA Africa, BudgIT Foundation, the Centre for Journalism Innovation and Development and the Development of Educational Action Network Initiative.
Mr Olufemi said the observers would provide real-time information on electoral administration, incidents, voting, collation and results across the country.
He explained that the information would be collected through the NEDO Civic App, allowing observers to document electoral activities and contribute to a shared evidence repository.
According to him, information gathered from the field would be consolidated, cross-checked and analysed alongside results published by the Independent National Electoral Commission.
He said NEDO would also use Application Programming Interfaces and other data-sharing tools to connect field observations, official election results and independent media networks.
NEDO deploys AI to verify result sheets
Mr Olufemi said the consortium would deploy artificial intelligence-powered Optical Character Recognition technology to convert images of election result sheets obtained from INEC’s Result Viewing Portal into machine-readable data.
He said the technology would make it possible to organise, analyse and distribute electoral information for use on interactive election-result platforms developed by consortium partners, including Dataphyte Foundation and BudgIT Foundation.
Mr Olufemi said the initiative was particularly important amid concerns over AI-generated misinformation, deepfakes, political intimidation and other threats to the integrity of electoral information.
Group cites 2023 election challenges
The Dataphyte director said the 2023 general elections exposed limitations in Nigeria’s election information management, particularly concerns surrounding the transmission and publication of results on the INEC Result Viewing Portal, IReV.
He said the challenges highlighted the need for an independent and coordinated civic infrastructure capable of providing credible electoral information.
Mr Olufemi also cited YIAGA Africa’s September 2026 National Voting Intentions Survey, which found that only 34 per cent of respondents expressed confidence in INEC’s ability to conduct credible elections.
He said NEDO would enable citizens, journalists, researchers, electoral stakeholders and civil society organisations to examine electoral information and make evidence-based assessments.
Group to assess election readiness
Mr Olufemi said pre-election surveys and situation assessments led by the Development of Educational Action Network Initiative would examine electoral preparedness, citizens’ perceptions, public confidence and emerging risks ahead of the polls.
The findings, he said, would feed into a National Election Readiness Report, regional briefs and periodic situation reports.
During and after the elections, NEDO would analyse evidence gathered by its observers, compare relevant observations with official results and publish a post-election report.
The consortium urged the media, civil society organisations, researchers, technology partners and other stakeholders to engage with the initiative to strengthen transparency, accountability and access to reliable electoral information ahead of the 2027 general elections.
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