Osun Election: Yiaga Africa raises concern over INEC, security agencies, public confidence

Civil society group, Yiaga Africa, has expressed apprehensions regarding electoral readiness, security agency impartiality and public trust preceding the Osun State gubernatorial election slated for August 15, 2026. At a pre-election briefing in Osogbo, on Thursday, Dr. Asmau Maikudi, Chair of the 2026 Osun Election Observation Mission and Samson Itodo, Yiaga Africa's Executive Director, highlighted the election as a critical test for the Independent National Electoral Commission's INEC and voter resilience.

Yiaga Africa's Watching the Vote (WTV) project posited that the poll would also serve as an initial gauge of innovations under the 2026 Electoral Act, including downloadable Permanent Voter Cards, PVCs, and electronic tracking of polling-unit results. Yiaga Africa stated that INEC has made strides in election preparations including voter registration, official recruitment and training, BVAS configuration, mock accreditation and stakeholder involvement.

However, technical hitches during mock accreditation remain a cause for concern as some BVAS devices failed to recognize voters' fingerprints, facial features and older PVC records. These unresolved issues could lead to delays and disenfranchisement. Yiaga Africa also expressed worry over the late addition of Social Democratic Party candidate Dr. Francis Olugbenga Ajala and his running mate, Faseke Babajimi Oladipo, following a court order.

This necessitated reprinting of ballot papers and result sheets, which has compressed INEC's deployment schedule. INEC is expected to oversee the election across 3,763 polling units in 30 Local Government Areas, using 4,427 BVAS devices and a voter population of 2,339,233. Yiaga Africa urged security personnel to remain neutral and professional, respecting voters' rights, accredited observers and media practitioners' freedom of movement on election day.

The organization also called for effective coordination between security agencies, EFCC and ICPC to curb vote-buying and other electoral offenses, while ensuring impartial enforcement of arrests. Political parties and candidates were urged to adhere to the Peace Accord, avoid vote-buying and inflammatory language, and pledge to maintain peace.

Civilians were advised to intensify voter education and to reject any attempts at vote-buying. Yiaga Africa pledged to deploy 300 stationary and 32 mobile observers across all 30 local government areas, using ERAD 2.0 to independently verify results uploaded to INEC's IReV portal, assess result sheet availability and completeness, and provide evidence-based verification of the electoral process.