The Nigeria Election Data Observatory (NEDO) Consortium will be officially launched tomorrow, October 27, 2026. As Nigeria approaches the 2027 General Elections, the need for collaboration among civil society organisations has never been more important. Election observation plays a critical role in safeguarding electoral integrity. However, when organisations work independently, their resources, observations, and evidence can remain fragmented and as such, limit their collective capacity to identify patterns, document electoral challenges, and provide strong evidence to inform electoral accountability. The NEDO Consortium brings together five organisations, Dataphyte Foundation, the Centre for Journalism Innovation and Development (CJID), BudgIT, DEAN Initiative and YIAGA Africa to bridge this gap through a collaborative approach to election observation and electoral information dissemination. The launch marks the beginning of a collective effort to strengthen independent election observation and promote electoral accountability through data and citizen networks. Follow the launch across our platforms for key updates and highlights from the event.

Concerns about artificial intelligence replacing workers are growing as more businesses adopt the technology. But AI's impact on employment goes beyond job losses. While some roles face greater risks, others could change as employers increasingly rely on AI to perform certain tasks. For Nigeria, this raises important questions about job security, workforce readiness and the skills needed in a changing labour market.

At the just concluded Build 2026: Africa’s Shared Compute and AI Infrastructure Conference, our founder, Joshua Olufemi (@jayangbayi), joined other leaders in the African Data and AI space to speak on “Tech Justice and Algorithm Accountability: Designing Safeguards for Public and Private AI.” During the session, Joshua shared insights on the importance of data sovereignty, responsible AI governance, local innovation and the need to build AI systems that understand Nigeria’s unique social, cultural and linguistic contexts. Drawing from Dataphyte’s work on development data and elections, he highlighted emerging questions around the use of AI in electoral processes, the protection of citizens’ data, institutional capacity, synthetic media and the need for stronger ground-truthing system to support accountability. He emphasised that as AI adoption grows, Nigeria must not only ask what AI can do, but also who controls the data, who benefits from it, and whether the systems being built truly serve the people and contexts they are designed for. #Build2026 #DataphyteFoundation #AI #DataSovereignty #TechJustice #AlgorithmicAccountability

Twelve years after Nigeria was declared Ebola-free, a new confirmed case has put the country's public health preparedness back in focus. Nigeria's experience in 2014 demonstrated the importance of early detection, contact tracing and coordinated public health action. As health authorities respond to the latest case, sustained government investment in disease surveillance, trained health workers and well-equipped facilities remains essential to containing the virus and preparing for possible future outbreaks. We revisit Nigeria's Ebola history, the latest developments and what Nigerians need to know to stay safe.

More than seven in ten Nigerians registered to vote ahead of the 2027 General Elections are below 50. This places younger and middle-aged Nigerians at the centre of the electorate, with both age groups accounting for the majority of registered voters. Follow Nigeria’s 2027 General Elections at elections.dataphyte.com.

🇳🇬 88 days to Nigeria’s 2027 General Elections! PVC collection has begun. Collect yours, verify your voter details and get informed about the candidates and their promises. Your vote matters. Make it count! Follow the 2027 General Elections at elections.dataphyte.com

Nigeria’s voter register has continued to expand, while the proportion of registered voters who turn out to vote has declined consistently since 2003. Turnout peaked at 69.08% in 2003 and has fallen in every presidential election since, reaching about 26.72% in 2023. Ahead of the 2027 General Elections, PVC collection has begun, with Nigeria’s voter register now above 103 million. The gap between registration and actual participation remains significant. Higher registration will only translate into broader electoral participation if more registered voters turn out on election day. Follow the 2027 Nigeria General Elections at elections.dataphyte.com

The distribution of registered voters offers a clearer picture of where Nigeria’s electorate is concentrated ahead of the 2027 General Elections. Between 2023 and 2027, the states with the largest voter populations have remained largely the same, even as the rankings have shifted. Lagos, Kano and Kaduna retain the top three positions, while Katsina has moved ahead of Rivers. Ogun has also entered the top 10, replacing Plateau, which ranked eighth in 2023. The comparison shows where the country’s largest voter populations are concentrated and how that pattern is changing ahead of 2027. Follow the 2027 General Elections at elections.dataphyte.com

Not every attempt to influence public opinion is obvious. Sometimes, it works by attaching itself to frustrations and vulnerabilities people already have. In this highlight from Episode 4 of Dataphyte’s Election Dialogue Series, @Silas2Silas of @CJIDAfrica's DAIDAC explains how external actors can use information technology to influence how people think, often in ways citizens may not immediately recognise. Watch the full episode, 2027 General Elections: What are the Foreign Interests? Watch now on YouTube: youtu.be/EnNoup2n0T4 Listen on Spotify: bit.ly/4yqDy6m

Preparing for an election is no longer only about ballots, logistics and technology. It is also about the information environment around the process. In this highlight from Episode 4 of Dataphyte’s Election Dialogue Series, @Silas2Silas of @CJIDAfrica's DAIDAC says INEC needs to recognise the growing challenge of anti-democratic narratives online and build the internal capacity to identify and respond to them. What should that response look like ahead of 2027, and how prepared are Nigeria’s institutions for this new information challenge? Watch the full episode: 2027 General Elections: What are the Foreign Interests? Watch now on YouTube: youtu.be/EnNoup2n0T4 Listen on Spotify: bit.ly/4yqDy6m

Earlier in the week, Dataphyte Foundation in partnership with Christian Aid launched a Regional Advocacy and Policy Influencing project to strengthen women economic justice in West and Central Africa. The project titled “Mobilising Data for Economic Justice Advocacy and Reforms in West and Central Africa,” commenced with an inception meeting and aimed at gathering credible and comparable evidence grounded in women’s lived experience and citizen-generated data to strengthen regional policy advocacy and influencing and empower civic networks to advance women economic justice advocacy across Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Burkina Faso, Burundi and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Read more on our latest blog post: bit.ly/4BadcIs

Before Nigerians cast a ballot in 2027, they will already have seen countless narratives about the election. But who is pushing those narratives, and what do they stand to gain? Episode 4 of Dataphyte Election Dialogue Series is out now. @Silas2Silas of @CJIDAfrica's DAIDAC discusses foreign interests in Nigeria’s 2027 General Elections, how coordinated narratives can influence public trust and participation, and why voter apathy can begin long before election day. 2027 General Elections: What are the Foreign Interests? If you want to better understand the information environment Nigeria is heading into before 2027, this episode is worth your time. Watch now on YouTube: youtu.be/EnNoup2n0T4 Listen on Spotify: bit.ly/4yqDy6m

Journalists also have a role in helping people understand what democracy offers. In this clip from Episode 4 of Dataphyte’s Election Dialogue Series, @Silas2Silas of @CJIDAfrica's DAIDAC explains how journalists can use radio, television and written reporting to help people understand the difference between democratic and authoritarian systems. 2027 General Elections: What are the Foreign Interests? Episode 4 drops tomorrow, 15 October 2026, at 12 noon. Watch on YouTube and listen on YouTube Music and Spotify.

Foreign influence in an election may not always be obvious. It can show up in the information people receive, the narratives they repeatedly encounter, and the doubts that begin to form around the process. In Episode 4 of Dataphyte Election Dialogue Series, @Silas2Silas of @CJIDAfrica's DAIDAC discusses the foreign interests around Nigeria’s 2027 General Elections, how they can affect the information environment, and what that could mean for public trust and participation. 2027 General Elections: What are the Foreign Interests? Episode 4 drops tomorrow, 15 October 2026, at 12 PM. Watch or listen on YouTube, YouTube Music and Spotify.

If votes were truly futile, why would politicians buy them? In this preview from Episode 4 of Dataphyte Election Dialogue Series, @Silas2Silas of @CJIDAfrica's DAIDAC discusses how people’s lived realities can influence the way they see democracy and political participation. He points to the danger of narratives that tell people there is no reason to vote, especially when those messages reinforce frustrations they already feel about insecurity, governance and their everyday lives. 2027 General Elections: What are the Foreign Interests? Episode 4 is coming soon.