The United Nations (UN) has highlighted its commitment to Nigeria’s democratic journey, highlighting the country’s electoral success as a critical barometer for stability and progress across Africa.

Mohamed Fall, the UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator in Nigeria, led a high-level delegation to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) headquarters in Abuja, reiterating global support for the nation’s electoral institutions.

Congratulating INEC Chairman Prof. Joash Amupitan on his appointment, Fall said Nigeria’s electoral processes carry lessons for the world, given the country’s demographic weight and influence.

“Your success will be our success. Democracy in Nigeria has evolved over the past 27 years, as something defining to the history and trajectory of the country. Because of the stakes involved, the United Nations family of 26 agencies is ready to put our global expertise and best practices at your disposal,” Fall said.

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Emphasizing inclusion as central to development, Fall highlighted the UN’s “Leave No One Behind” principle, noting the importance of engaging youth, women, and Persons With Disabilities (PWDs).

“We have been supporting young people to participate, we have been supporting women to participate, we have been supporting PWDs, because everything we do in UN is founded on a principle: ‘leave no one behind,’” he said.

Ms. Elsie Attafuah, UNDP Resident Representative, echoed the sentiment, noting the longstanding collaboration between INEC and the UN dating back to 1999. She highlighted the UN’s role in supporting technological innovations in Nigeria’s elections and advancing inclusivity.

“Over the years, we’ve worked together to ensure that there’s more inclusion from the youth and gender point of view. Over the years, we’ve been supporting with voter education, institutional strengthening, and sometimes embedding technical capacity also within to support you,” Attafuah said.

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She also stressed the UN’s global expertise, supporting approximately 60 elections worldwide annually, and expressed the organization’s readiness to leverage programs in human rights, gender equality, and parliamentary development to assist Nigeria.

“Nigeria is providing great leadership through the Regional Partnership for Democracy. If Nigeria succeeds, Africa advances. We are happy to support you as you work on important milestones for this great country,” Attafuah said.

In response, Prof. Joash Amupitan welcomed the UN’s renewed partnership while identifying public trust, voter apathy, and insecurity as major challenges facing election management bodies across Africa.

Amupitan outlined specific areas where INEC seeks UN support, including voter education to combat apathy and disinformation, and strengthening the commission’s Gender and Inclusivity Department (GID) to better serve PWDs.

“The commission Braille and specialised aids. Secondly, you also have the issue of voter apathy and issue of security. It is our responsibility to ensure that you manage all those things together, all those challenges. So those are some of the areas we will be liaising with the UN,” he said.

The INEC chairman also shared proactive steps being taken to enhance electoral integrity, such as cleaning the national voters’ register to remove deceased persons and duplicates.

“Our hope is that every election we conduct will be better than the last one,” Amupitan said, citing the successful FCT area council elections and upcoming off-cycle governorship elections in June and August as opportunities to test improved result transmission technology and logistics tracking.

“We are in line with best practices in the use of technology. Results are transmitted to our portal to ensure transparency, allowing voters to compare real-time data with what is provided at polling units,” he added.