Francis 'Jide MAKINWA

 

Officials of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) have been commended for ensuring a free and fair gubernatorial election in Osun State, held on Saturday, 15th August, 2026.

The commendation came from the Justice, Development and Peace Makers' Centre (JDPMC), Osogbo, through its General Coordinator, Rev. Fr. Peter Akinkunmi. He spoke during a Press Conference held at the Bishop's House, Oke-Ayepe, Osogbo, recently.

The General Coordinator commended the early arrival of INEC officials at most polling units and their ability to resolve issues relating to the voters' register and the malfunctioning of the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS), even though some troubleshooting took considerable time.

He noted that the pre-election atmosphere was marred by an unprecedented level of violence, in which over ten people were reported to have been killed — the highest rate in any off-cycle gubernatorial election since the inception of the Fourth Republic in Nigeria. This situation seemed to have been encouraged by the apparent passivity of security agents, especially the Nigeria Police Force, due to their deficient communication and response mechanisms to incidents of political violence.

He said the pre-election period was also scarred by numerous incidents of voter inducement by major political parties, who not only induced poor citizens with as much as N20,000 but also promised further inducements on election day.

Fr. Akinkunmi disclosed that on Election Day, JDPMC deployed 80 trained observers who covered 140 polling units across 101 wards in 26 local government areas of Osun State. The sampling focused on key polling units with a high number of registered voters, polling units considered strongholds of the major contestants, and polling units that constituted major battlegrounds across all senatorial districts of the state. JDPMC also observed the collation of votes at ward and state levels until the announcement of the final results, through its deployed ward and state-level observers.

The General Coordinator stated that JDPMC observed early arrival of INEC personnel in 80% of polling units across the state by 8:00 a.m. The voters' registers were generally pasted on the walls of the various polling units. However, in some polling units — such as Olorunda Ward 8, Unit 2, Kobonigbogboe Ward 8, Unit 3 in the same community, and Ward 7, Unit 2 in Ifon-Orolu — the voters' registers posted on the walls differed from the registers brought by polling officials for voters’ accreditation. As a result, voters had to wait until 12 noon when the authentic registers were made available by INEC.

Furthermore, JDPMC observed a general atmosphere of orderliness in 90% of the polling units visited, with proper spacing to allow for open-secret balloting at the commencement of voting. The reverse was the case in many other polling units, where party agents were seen crowding around polling cubicles. Voting was rowdy in such units, and party agents had easy access to the cubicles to see how individuals voted.

Fr. Akinkunmi said the BVAS devices used for voters’ accreditation were available in all polling units observed and functioned effectively.

On security, the priest said that with the presence of two to twelve security personnel per polling unit, many units were orderly and peaceful across the state, except for a few disturbing cases of violence. Although security agents quelled such incidents, no arrests were made.

JDPMC observers reported widespread incidents of vote-buying during the election, although direct exchange of money was not observed inside polling units. In most cases, voters were seen showing their thumb-printed ballot papers to political party agents, and some were observed receiving tallies after voting. A new development was noted in a few polling units where voters resisted vote-buying from certain political parties. In some cases, youths confiscated the funds and displayed them before the media. Nevertheless, voters’ complicity in vote-buying was more prevalent across all local government areas.

In conclusion, Fr. Akinkunmi commended INEC officials for their overall efforts in ensuring a peaceful, free and fair election. He also praised the field observers of JDPMC, the Situation Room team, security agencies, media practitioners, the network of other civil society organizations, and all people of goodwill for their contributions to the election observation exercise.

Media organizations represented at the Press Conference included TVC News, Arise TV, ABN TV, City Mirror, Telegraph, MiTV, SilverBird TV, Access and Galaxy TV.