The Chairman of Independent Electoral Commission has given assurances of free, fair and credible governorship election in Osun State, come August 15, 2026.
Professor Joash Amupitan gave the assurance at the Osun State Governorship Election Stakeholders’ Forum on Wednesday in Osogbo, the State capital.
The forum comprised electoral officials, security agencies, traditional rulers, leaders and members of political parties, the governorship candidates, civil society organisations, election observer groups and journalists.
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Amupitan said the Commission is logistically, technologically, and operationally prepared to deliver an election that fully satisfies the standards of the Electoral Act 2026 and the Election Regulations and Guidelines.
He explained that the Stakeholders’ Forum represents the clearinghouse where the commission presents its operational readiness profile, subjects its procedures to public scrutiny, and reaffirms its covenant of strict neutrality with the electorate.
The INEC Chairman stressed that the INEC had finalised and certified the comprehensive Register of Voters for this off-cycle election.
“For this election, the total Registered Voters are 2,339,233, spread across 30 Local Government Areas, 332 Registration Areas (Wards), and 3,763 Polling Units in the state. Fourteen political parties will participate in the contest. As at the close of PVC collection yesterday, a total of 322,822, representing 62% of the newly registered voters, had collected their PVCs. The Commission has reviewed this development and, in the interest of inclusivity, decided to extend the collection till Friday, 31st July 2026 to enable those who have been unable to collect their PVCs to do so. This is to ensure that no eligible voter is disenfranchised.
“We have contacted security agencies and will request the Inter-Agency Consultative Committee on Election Security (ICCES) to ensure massive deployment of patrol vehicles around the venue of the collection centres. Those concerned should take advantage of this window and collect their PVCs.”
Amupitan said double registrations and invalid entries have been systematically purged through the Automated Biometric Identification System (ABIS), making it easy for legally verified electorates of 2,339,233 citizens to choose the leadership of Osun State.
He said while the commission, during the recent governorship election in Ekiti State achieved an early opening rate of over 90% across all polling units as at 8:30 a.m, INEC is set to either match and surpass the Ekiti standard in Osun State.
“To eliminate early-morning deployment bottlenecks, we have decentralised our distribution network into 97 Super Registration Area Centres (Super RACs) and 105 Registration Area Centres (RACs) across the state. We will not compromise our transport logistics frameworks with the National Association of Road Transport Owners (NARTO), the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW), and the Road Transport Employers Association of Nigeria (RTEAN).
Agreements will be fully ratified ahead of the election. Sensitive materials will be moved under strict security escorts, ad-hoc staff training has been concluded, and field teams will activate all 3,763 polling units simultaneously at 8:30 a.m. on Election Day.
“A total of 4,427 Bimodal Voter Accreditation System devices have been customised and deployed for Osun State. This includes 664 dedicated backup units—representing a 15% operational reserve—stationed at RAC levels with specialised RACTECH officers to resolve hardware glitches instantly.”
“The Biometric verification (fingerprint or facial matching via BVAS) remains the sole statutory mechanism for accreditation. There will be no manual accreditation and all Polling Unit result sheets (Form EC8A) will be scanned and uploaded directly from the polling unit to the IReV portal, guaranteeing public transparency from the moment voting closes.”
The INEC boss who said the commission’s priority is to build and sustain the ultimate trust of the electorate announced that a Mock Accreditation across 12 selected Local Government Areas in the State will be conducted on Saturday August 1st, 2026.
He said the exercise will signify readiness as they refine the tools, and ensure the system is not just ready, but infallible.
On the vulnerable populations, Amupitan said the Commission has integrated practical assistive devices across polling locations, based on its disability mapping of the state, via provisions for braille ballot guides for visually impaired voters; magnifying glasses for voters with albinism and low vision; EC40H poster manifests for hearing-impaired citizens and Priority Voting Queues for Persons with Disabilities (PWDs), pregnant women, nursing mothers, and the elderly.
Police Give Assurances
Meanwhile, the Osun State Commissioner of Police, Ibrahim Gotan has pledged the police’s commitment to ensuring the governorship election is conducted in a peaceful, transparent, credible, and secure atmosphere.
He said the police, in collaboration with INEC and other security agencies, have developed comprehensive operational strategies to guarantee the safety of voters, election officials, observers, journalists, and electoral materials before, during, and after the election.
“The Nigeria Police Force, as the lead agency in election security, is fully prepared to discharge its constitutional responsibility with professionalism, impartiality, and respect for the rule of law.
“Our key strategies include: Comprehensive threat assessment and intelligence gathering across all local government areas. Deployment of adequately trained Police personnel and other security agencies to all polling units, collation centres, and other strategic locations. Strengthening intelligence-led policing to identify and neutralise potential threats before they escalate.
Enhanced visibility policing through confidence-building patrols across the State. And continuous engagement with political parties, community leaders, youth groups, and other stakeholders to promote peaceful participation.”
CP Gotan said rapid response teams would be strategically positioned to respond promptly to emergencies, maintaining that there will be strict enforcement of electoral laws and zero tolerance for vote buying, voter intimidation, ballot box snatching, destruction of electoral materials, and other electoral offences.
He added that special attention has been given to identified flashpoints across the State, saying the approach to these include increased intelligence surveillance, proactive and continuous engagement with relevant stakeholders in the community, deployment of additional security personnel, and close collaboration with other security agencies.
