The African Centre for Leadership, Strategy and Development (Centre LSD) has activated an Electoral Credibility Analysis Centre to monitor preparations for the 2027 general elections and assess the integrity of the electoral process.
The organisation said the centre would serve as its operational hub for coordinating election-related programmes and assessing electoral preparedness across the pre-election, election-day, and post-election phases.
Centre LSD, whose Executive Director is Mr Monday Osasah, disclosed this in its position paper on the 2027 general elections, announcing plans to produce monthly Electoral Credibility Reports to inform public debate, identify emerging concerns and support timely interventions by relevant stakeholders.
The initiative, tagged “All Eyes on Electoral Credibility”, will be guided by the organisation’s Election Credibility Index, also known as the THRIVE Index.
The index assesses electoral credibility across six interconnected dimensions: transparency, healthy environment, reforms, inclusivity, voter and political education, and equipment functionality.
Under the framework, Transparency measures openness, accountability and verifiability of electoral processes, while healthy environment focuses on peaceful, secure and non-intimidating electoral conditions.
Reforms examines the adequacy and implementation of electoral laws, regulations and institutional reforms, while Inclusivity assesses meaningful participation by women, young people, persons with disabilities and other marginalised groups.
Voter and Political Education focuses on citizens’ knowledge, democratic values and resistance to vote buying and disinformation, while Equipment Functionality assesses the reliability of electoral technology, logistics, materials and operational systems.
Centre LSD said the initiative would strengthen engagement with the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), political parties, security institutions, the media, civil society organisations and other stakeholders.
Its planned interventions include periodic electoral credibility assessments, citizen-led monitoring, voter and political education, election violence early warning, monitoring of political party primaries and campaign finance, and advocacy for electoral accountability.
The organisation also plans to work with partners to strengthen citizens’ capacity to independently document and verify polling-unit results and report electoral violations through lawful channels.
Explaining the rationale for its intervention, Centre LSD maintained that electoral credibility could not be left to INEC alone.
“Electoral credibility is not the responsibility of INEC alone. It is a collective democratic responsibility involving political parties, candidates, security agencies, the media, civil society, traditional and religious institutions, development partners and, above all, citizens,” it said.
The organisation urged the National Assembly to strengthen the legal and institutional framework for credible elections, address outstanding electoral reform issues and support effective enforcement of electoral laws.
Political parties and candidates were advised to respect internal democracy, campaign responsibly, reject violence and vote buying, deploy accredited agents to all polling units and commit to accepting credible electoral outcomes.
It also urged security agencies to remain politically neutral and protect citizens and electoral personnel, while calling on the judiciary to ensure timely and impartial adjudication of electoral disputes.
Centre LSD further emphasised the need for greater political inclusion, particularly for women, young people and persons with disabilities.
It urged political parties to remove discriminatory barriers, reduce the financial burden of nominations and create opportunities for women and young people to emerge as candidates.
It also called on INEC to improve accessible voting arrangements through appropriate assistive materials, accessible polling environments and voter education tailored to persons with disabilities.
On citizens’ responsibility, the organization said, “Nigerians must understand that protecting the vote requires active participation before, during and after elections.”
It urged citizens to verify their voter registration details, participate in voter education, reject vote selling, report electoral intimidation, monitor polling-unit processes and insist on transparent results.
In its final appeal, Centre LSD urged Nigerians not to surrender their democratic rights to political actors.
“Register, participate, vote peacefully, reject vote selling and remain vigilant in protecting your mandate,” it charged.
