Osun 2026: National peace committee trains election observers

National Peace Committee through its secretariat, The Kukah Centre, has organised a training workshop for 45 field observers on how to monitor and report issues around election security and compliance ahead of the August 15 Osun State governorship poll.

A statement made available by the Kukah Centre in Osogbo on Friday, noted that the intervention supported by the European Union, was being implemented in partnership with the Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs-supported Strengthening the National Peace Committee’s Stakeholder Engagement for Peace and Good Governance in Nigeria Project.

Speaking with journalists during the training held in Osogbo, the Osun State capital, the project manager for The Kukah Centre, Vicham Hajara Waziri , said those recruited as field observers were drawn from the 30 local government areas in the state.

Waziri further disclosed that the LGAs that have been identified as high risks will have more than one field observers, adding that the centre expected that after the workshop, the trainees will be able to report on specific issues bordering on election security.

“The Kukah Centre is the secretariat for the National Peace Committee, and for years we have been implementing a series of activities that strengthen stakeholder engagement for the National Peace Committee.

“So we recruited 45 field observers, making sure that all of them are from Osun state and across the 30 local governments in the state. At least in each local government, we would have one or two field observers.

“The local governments that we have identified as high risks will have two, three, or four field observers there, and our expectations for them is after this training, they will be able to report on specific issues that the Kukah Centre and the NPC are interested in, which is election security. The forms are designed in a way to capture issues around election security and compliance,” she said.

On the expectations of the centre after the training, Waziri said the observers would have been equipped with the field knowledge on how to track and respond to issues on compliance and neutrality of state institutions in the context of the elections.

Earlier, the NPC project manager, Asabe Ndahi, emphasized that early warning systems remain critical tools for preventing electoral violence and ensuring timely responses to emerging threats.

She noted that effective observation, credible data collection, and accurate reporting contribute significantly to peaceful democratic processes.

The PUNCH reports that The Kukah Centre, a policy research institute based in Abuja, had earlier organised an even where a report of a ‘Political, Social & Security Context Analysis & Compliance Assessment,’ conducted by the centre on the forthcoming Osun State Governorship Election, was presented to the stakeholders for their validation.

In separate remarks at the event held in Osogbo, the participants called on relevant authorities in the state to address critical issues that have been identified as threat to the forthcoming governorship polls in the state.