By Angela Atabo
The European Union (EU) and the National Peace Committee (NPC) are deepened collaboration to curb electoral violence and promote credible, peaceful, and inclusive elections in Nigeria.
Mr Ruben Aguilera, Head of the Governance, Gender, Human Rights and Migration Service, EU delegation to Nigeria and ECOWAS said this on Wednesday in Abuja.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that he said this at the official inauguration of the Election Security Information (ESI) Hub.
Aguilera said the hub was part of the longstanding partnership and support that EU has provided to the NPC since its establishment in 2015 to deliver on its mandate.
He said: “We are moving beyond moral and convening power.
“We are now talking about moving into evidence-based platforms that would allow us to track incidents and those behind those incidents in terms of electoral offenses.
“There can be no credible or inclusive elections without security and unfortunately, as we know, there are still persistent security challenges.
“There was some information in the spring before showing, for example, how there are still incidents in places like Anambra, where we are also going to have elections coming up soon.”
Aguilera explained that he had visited some security agencies and the electoral body in Anambra and told of several local government areas where insecurity was a challenge for the delivery of the election.
He said there were areas controlled by bandits and other armed groups that were interfering in the deployment of teams that would ensure hitch-free elections.
According to the Chairman of NPC, retired Gen. Abdulsalami Abubakar, the hub was an initiative of The Kukah Centre, the Secretariat of the NPC, with support of the EU, under its Support for Democratic Governance in Nigeria,(EU-SDGN).
Abubakar, represented by retired Gen. Martin Agwai, member, NPC, said that the strength of any democracy rests on the credibility of its election, and the confidence of its citizens in the process.
“While Nigerian democracy continues to deepen, its election cycle reveals persistent security challenges, gaps and coordination, and weak response systems that allow local tensions to escalate into broader conflict.
“The hub is a deliberate response to these challenges. It is a strategic platform designed to gather, analyse, and share information on security and its impact on elections.
“While tracking electoral offenses, its process is simple, yet very profound, intended to transform early warning into coordinated, timely and local responses by critical stakeholders.”
Abubakar added that the hub reflected a critical evolution in Nigeria’s democratic architecture, turning commitment into coordination and pledge into practical action.
Also speaking, the Executive Director and Head of Secretariat of the NPC, Fr. Atta Barkindo, said that in spite of some remarkable progress made; elections still reflected deep vulnerabilities that threatened public trust.
Barkindo said the hub was, therefore, conceived as a direct response to the realities that Nigeria is facing.
“The hub is a proactive mechanism to collect, analyse, share data on election-related security problems.
“Most importantly, in my opinion, the hub represents the commitment of NPC to move just from pledges on peace efforts to prevention and issues of accountability.
“The evidence collected will assist the Peace Committee in all its interventions and mediations.
“This is because since its creation in 2014, the Peace Committee has relied solely on expert analysts and even security consultants to provide analysis of the issues.
“However, we have now secured a better platform with the hub to collect data, see this data, and verify this data, so that all NPC interventions are informed by evidence rather than sentiment.”
A representative of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Mrs Helen Ajayi, Director, Planning and Monitoring Department, commended NPC and EU for the initiative, adding that it would support the work of the commission.(NAN)(www.nannews.ng)
Edited by Bashir Rabe Mani