A look at the Nigeria Election Observation Mission

At the invitation of the Independent National Electoral Election Commission (INEC) to observe the 2015 Presidential, National Assembly, Governor and State House of Assembly elections of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, the European Union deployed an Election Observation Mission (EU EOM) led by Chief Observer Santiago Fisas Ayxela (MEP).

On 6 January 2015, nine Core Team analysts arrived in Abuja. The mission assessed all aspects of the elections including the legal provisions, the election administration, political freedoms and dynamics, and the performance of the media.

A group of 30 long-term observers later arrived in Nigeria on 12 January.

A six week postponement of the elections extended the pre-election observation period for the EU EOM. The EU EOM was the only international observation mission to stay throughout the postponement.

Shortly before the polls a delegation of seven Members of the European Parliament joined the mission. About 50 EU diplomats also joined the mission to observe the two election days. In total the EU EOM was comprised of observers from 26 EU Member States as well as Norway and Switzerland and up to 90 observers.

A final report, with recommendations for future elections, will be published soon.

Reports are available at : http://www.eueom.eu/nigeria2015