The CLEEN Foundation with support from the European Union trained forty-three election observers from the 16 Local Government Areas of Ekiti State for the July 14 2018 Ekiti State gubernatorial election.

The training is part of the lined-up activities for the peaceful conduct of the election and implemented under the European Union Support to Democratic Governance in Nigeria (EU-SDGN). CLEEN Foundation has a mandate to mitigate electoral violence in Nigeria before, during and after the 2018 off-cycle and the 2019 elections under Component 5 Support to Civil Society Organizations of the European Union Support to Democratic Governance in Nigeria (EU-SDGN). The European Union is supporting ten organizations including CLEEN Foundation towards implementing an effective democratic governance in Nigeria

With the accreditation of CLEEN Foundation by the electoral body, Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for the July 14, 2018 Ekiti Governorship Election, CLEEN Foundation organized capacity building training for her Observers for the election. The training realized the following objectives.

• Ensured their safety and security are prioritized using the findings of CLEEN Foundation Security Threat Assessment in Ekiti State;
• Reviewed Police Performance During Previous Elections;
• Reviewed INEC Election Observers Ethics and Guidelines;
• Improved their knowledge and understanding on the Police Service Commission Conduct of Conduct for Security Agencies on Election Duty.

CLEEN Foundation trained election observers will be deployed across the sixteen Local Government Areas of Ekiti State to specifically monitor the conduct of security officers on election duty during the July 14 Governorship Election in Ekiti State. CLEEN Foundation Call Centre Managers are also on ground to receive complaints from members of the public on logistical, security, technical and other challenges during the election. These complaints will be communicated to appropriate authorities for timely response. This is with view to ensure they are not trigger factors for electoral violence in Ekiti State. CLEEN Foundation will collate, analyse and produce Preliminary Statement on the Conduct of Security Agencies during the election. This will be used to drive advocacy for improving election security management in Nigeria.

Prior to this, CLEEN Foundation piloted the harmonized electoral violence mitigation tool in Ekiti State for predicting electoral risk factors and mitigating violence in the state.