EU Declares Neutrality as Nigeria’s 2027 Campaigns Begin
Nigeria’s 2027 general election campaign season formally opened on Wednesday, a day after presidential candidates, party leaders and diplomatic missions gathered in Abuja to sign the first National Peace Accord of the electoral cycle, with the European Union using the occasion to reaffirm that it backs no party or candidate in the contest.
The accord, signed on Tuesday at the Bola Ahmed Tinubu International Conference Centre, was convened by the National Peace Committee (NPC) in partnership with The Kukah Centre, one day before the Independent National Electoral Commission’s (INEC) timetable opened public campaigning for the presidential and National Assembly elections. INEC Chairman, Professor Joash Amupitan, told the gathering that the country was exactly five months from the presidential and National Assembly polls, fixed for 16 January 2027, with governorship and state assembly elections to follow on 6 February 2027.
President Bola Tinubu, represented by the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, George Akume, signed on behalf of the All Progressives Congress, pledging that his party rejected violence, hate speech and misinformation, including manipulation through artificial intelligence and social media. The Nigeria Democratic Congress candidate, Peter Obi, and the Social Democratic Party’s Adewale Adebayo also signed in person, alongside the African Action Congress’s Omoyele Sowore. African Democratic Congress candidate Atiku Abubakar was absent, though the party was represented by retired General Martin Luther Agwai of the NPC, who read remarks credited to Atiku urging parties to campaign on issues of concern to Nigerians.
It was against this backdrop that the EU Ambassador and Head of Delegation to Nigeria and ECOWAS, Gautier Mignot, represented by Chargé d’Affaires Agnieszka Torres, stated the bloc’s position. “The European Union and its member states wish to reiterate their priority of impartiality. We are not here to support any political party or any candidate other than Nigeria, its people, and its democracy,” Torres said. She described the 2023 transition of power between civilian administrations as an example Nigeria had set for Africa, and expressed hope that the 2027 polls would further consolidate that record through elections that are fair, credible, transparent and peaceful. She called on INEC to operate free of pressure while demonstrating neutrality and accountability, and urged security agencies to guarantee safety for all actors in the process.
The Swiss envoy, Felix Egloff, represented by Chargé d’Affaires Simon Gemperli, echoed the call, telling political actors that “political competition must never come at the expense of peace.” Switzerland is currently supporting a project strengthening the NPC’s engagement with electoral institutions and local peace structures, drawing lessons from the 2026 off-cycle elections in Ekiti and Osun states.
The renewed diplomatic emphasis on neutrality comes as data presented at the signing underscored why the accord was considered necessary. The NPC’s Project Manager at The Kukah Centre, Asabe Ndaye, disclosed that the committee’s Election Security Information Hub had recorded 2,510 security incidents between June 2025 and August 2026, with Zamfara, Borno, Kaduna, Niger, Benue and Plateau among the worst affected states. A further 381 electoral offences were logged over the same period, concentrated in the Federal Capital Territory, Osun, Oyo and Lagos, with vote-buying, thuggery, intimidation and misinformation identified as the leading threats. Ndaye said the committee had facilitated 30 peace accords since 2015, five at the national level and 25 at state level, including in the roughly 70 off-cycle and re-run elections monitored since 2023.
Tinubu, in remarks delivered on his behalf, pointed to the Anambra, Ekiti and Osun governorship elections held between October 2025 and 15 August 2026, in which different parties emerged victorious, as evidence that Nigeria’s electoral process, strengthened by the Permanent Voter’s Card and the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System, had improved. He cautioned candidates against treating the contest as a “do-or-die affair” and against exploiting ethnic or religious sentiment for votes.
Whether the pledges translate into a calmer campaign season will depend on how the NPC’s monitoring, INEC’s transparency measures and party discipline hold up over the coming five months, a period officials describe as the most consequential test yet for Nigeria’s democratic institutions since 2023.