By Martha Agas
The Nigeria Election Data Observatory (NEDO), a consortium of 5 civil society organisations, says it is going to deploy greater than 4,000 observers for the 2027 basic elections.
Oluseyi Olufemi, Country Director, Dataphyte Foundation, disclosed this on Tuesday in Abuja on the unveiling of NEDO and its civic expertise software forward of the elections.
The consortium includes Dataphyte Foundation, YIAGA Africa, BudgIT Foundation, the Centre for Journalism Innovation and Development (CJID) and the Development of Educational Action Network (DEAN) Initiative.
Olufemi stated the observers would offer real-time info on electoral administration, incidents, voting, collation and outcomes throughout the nation.
He stated the data could be collected via the NEDO Civic App, which might allow observers to doc electoral processes for a shared proof repository.
According to him, info from subject observers could be consolidated, cross-checked and analysed alongside outcomes printed by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to assist public reporting.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reviews that NEDO is an election statement, knowledge aggregation and information-sharing initiative designed to handle fragmentation in election monitoring, knowledge assortment, analysis and reporting.
Developed by Dataphyte Foundation, which serves as its secretariat, the initiative will present a shared system for gathering, exchanging, analysing, verifying and disseminating electoral info.
Olufemi stated the system would use Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) and different data-sharing instruments to attach subject observations, official election outcomes and unbiased media networks.
“By connecting field observations, official election results and independent media networks, NEDO will strengthen the capacity of journalists and civil society organisations to report on electoral developments using credible and verifiable evidence,” he stated.
He stated the consortium would additionally deploy Artificial Intelligence (AI)-powered Optical Character Recognition (OCR) expertise to transform pictures of election end result sheets obtained from INEC’s Result Viewing Portal (IReV) into machine-readable knowledge.
“This allows us to organise, analyse, and distribute electoral information for use on interactive election-result platforms developed by consortium partners, including Dataphyte Foundation and BudgIT Foundation,” he stated.
Olufemi stated the initiative was vital amid issues about AI-generated misinformation, deepfakes, political intimidation and different challenges affecting the integrity of electoral info.
He stated the 2023 basic elections had uncovered limitations in election info administration, notably issues surrounding the transmission and publication of outcomes on IReV.
“The challenges surrounding the INEC IReV, particularly during the transmission and publication of election results, called for the need for an independent, coordinated civic infrastructure,” he stated.
He cited YIAGA Africa’s September 2026 National Voting Intentions Survey, which reported that solely 34 per cent of respondents expressed confidence in INEC’s means to conduct credible elections.
Olufemi stated NEDO would assist residents, journalists, researchers, electoral stakeholders and civil society organisations look at electoral info and make evidence-based assessments.
He added that pre-election surveys and scenario assessments led by the DEAN Initiative would look at electoral preparedness, residents’ perceptions, public confidence and rising dangers forward of the polls.
The findings, he stated, would inform a National Election Readiness Report, regional briefs and periodic scenario reviews.
Olufemi stated the consortium would additionally analyse proof gathered throughout the elections, examine related observations with official outcomes and publish a post-election report.
He added that acceptable datasets could be made out there for analysis, advocacy and electoral reform.
Olufemi urged the media, civil society organisations, researchers, expertise companions and different stakeholders to have interaction with NEDO to strengthen transparency, accountability and entry to dependable electoral info forward of the 2027 basic elections. (NAN)
Edited by Gabriel Yough
