PRESS RELEASE
African Union Election Observation Missions deployed in Nigeria and Senegal
Addis Ababa, 20 February 2019: As two Member States of the African Union, the Federal Republic of Nigeria and the Republic of Senegal, hold crucial elections on 23 and 24 February 2019 respectively, the Chairperson of the African Union Commission, H.E. Moussa Faki Mahatma, has authorized the deployment of African Union Election Observation Missions (AUEOMs) to the two countries.

On 23 February 2019, Nigeria will hold Presidential and National Assembly Elections, to be followed Governorship, State House of Assembly and Area Council Elections on 9 March 2019. Senegal on her part will hold Presidential Election on 24 February 2019.

The objectives of the two AUEOMs are: (a) to provide an accurate and impartial reporting or assessment of the quality of elections in Nigeria and Senegal, including the degree to which the conduct of the elections meets regional, continental and international standards for democratic elections; (b) to offer recommendations for improvement of future elections based on the findings; and (c) to demonstrate AU’s interest to support Nigeria and Senegal’s elections and democratisation processes to ensure that the conduct of genuine elections contributes to the consolidation of democratic governance, peace and stability.

The AUEOMs draw their mandates from various African Union instruments, most importantly: (a) the African Union Guidelines for Elections Observation and Monitoring Missions (2002); (b) the OUA/AU Declaration on Principles Governing Democratic Elections in Africa (2002); African Charter on Human and Peoples Rights (1981) and (c) African Charter on Democracy, Elections and Governance (2007), among others.
The AUEOM in Nigeria is led by H.E Hailemariam Desalegn Boshe, former Prime Minister of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia while the Mission in Senegal is led by H.E. Albert Pahimi Padacke, former Prime Minister of the Republic of Chad.
For more information, contact: Mr. Guy Cyrille Tapoko, Head, Democracy and Electoral Assistance, Department of Political Affairs, African Union Commission (tapokog@africa-union.org), in Senegal; and Mr. Idrissa Kamara, Political/Elections Officer, Department of Political Affairs, African Union Commission (kamarai@africa-union.org), in Nigeria.