The European Union has confirmed it will observe Nigeria’s 2027 general election, rejecting reports that it had declined an invitation to participate in the vote.
The bloc said it will instead deploy an Electoral Expert Mission (EEM) comprising two to four independent experts, significantly fewer than the 110 observers accredited for Nigeria’s 2023 elections.
The EU Delegation to Nigeria and ECOWAS issued the clarification following reports that it had decided against observing the election because of worsening insecurity and hostile treatment of its officials after its critical assessment of Nigeria’s 2023 polls.
The delegation said those reports were inaccurate and described the alleged reasons for its decision as “pure speculations”.
Nigeria’s Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) formally invited the EU on April 17, 2026, to deploy observers for the election.
