The National Peace Committee NPC, with support from the European Union, has launched an Early Warning–Early Response (EWER) intervention in Ekiti State aimed at strengthening preventive measures against electoral violence and supporting peaceful democratic participation during the June 20th Governorship election in the State.
The initiative forms part of broader preparations for the 2026 Ekiti State gubernatorial election, focusing on identifying and responding to early signs of electoral tension before they escalate into conflict.
As part of the intervention, selected observers drawn from all 16 Local Government Areas in Ekiti State are undergone a 3-day workshop designed to equip them with practical skills to observe electoral developments, identify risk indicators, verify incidents, and report early signs of tension in their communities.
The intervention also introduces participants to structured monitoring tools, ethical standards for field observers, and simulation exercises to strengthen readiness for real-time election monitoring before, during, and after the election.
Information gathered by the observers will be transmitted to the NPC’s Election Security Information (ESI) Hub, a central platform that aggregates and analyses electoral risk data.
The Hub provides evidence-based insights that support early alerts and enable coordinated responses by relevant institutions, including electoral authorities, security agencies, and civil society stakeholders.
Speaking during the training in Ado Ekiti, NPC’s Programmes Manager, Barr. Asabe Ndahi, noted that the EWER system is designed to bridge the gap between community-level reporting and institutional action, ensuring that credible information from the grassroots can inform timely interventions to prevent escalation.
According to her, the initiative also aims to strengthen collaboration among key stakeholders involved in safeguarding elections while promoting dialogue and peaceful participation in the democratic processes.
The National Peace Committee noted that early detection and coordinated response mechanisms are essential to addressing risks such as political thuggery, misinformation, voter intimidation, and other tensions that can undermine the credibility of elections.
