EU Denies Rejecting INEC Invitation to Observe Nigeria’s 2027 Elections
The European Union (EU) Delegation to Nigeria and the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) has denied reports that it rejected an invitation from the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to observe Nigeria’s 2027 general elections.
EU Ambassador to Nigeria and ECOWAS, Gautier Mignot, said the reports suggesting that the bloc had declined the invitation were inaccurate and based on speculation.
Mignot, in a statement issued on Monday, confirmed that the EU received INEC’s invitation in April and subsequently responded that it would deploy an Electoral Expert Mission (EEM) comprising between two and four independent observers.
The clarification followed reports suggesting that the EU had declined to deploy a full-scale election observation mission and was effectively ending about two decades of election monitoring engagement in Nigeria.
Some reports had attributed the decision to concerns over the security situation in Nigeria and alleged hostile treatment of EU officials following the 2023 general elections.
Mignot, however, said those reasons were not contained in the EU’s response to INEC.
“The EU Delegation further underlines that the two alleged reasons mentioned in the press reports do not appear in the letter: these are pure speculations,” he said.
According to the ambassador, the EU determines annually which partner countries will receive electoral missions and decides the nature and size of such missions based on the circumstances in each country and available resources.
“The European Union decides every year on electoral missions to be sent to partner countries, issuing invitations to the EU and, if the decision is positive, the kind of mission to be sent to each of them, depending on individual situations and available resources,” he said.
He explained that the decision to conduct an Electoral Expert Mission in Nigeria was made within that framework and would be subject to further consultations with relevant Nigerian authorities on its implementation.
Mignot also stressed that the decision to deploy a smaller expert mission does not represent a withdrawal of EU support for Nigeria’s democratic and electoral processes.
“This decision does not affect in any way the continuation of the implementation of the EU-funded project ‘Support to Democratic Governance in Nigeria’, including its dimension of support to the electoral process,” he said.
The clarification effectively puts to rest reports that the EU had rejected INEC’s invitation or was withdrawing from election observation in Nigeria ahead of the 2027 general elections.
