Situation Room Urges INEC Audit, Timely Resolution of Pre-Election Cases After Osun Poll

By Joseph Sunday

The Nigeria Civil Society Situation Room has commended voters in Osun State for a largely peaceful governorship election held on Saturday, August 15, 2026, but raised concerns over vote-buying, BVAS malfunctions and logistical delays.

In its final statement issued at 2:00 p.m. on Monday, August 17, 2026, and signed by Convener Y.Z. Ya’u and Co-conveners Mma Odi and Celestine Odo, the group said it deployed observers across the 30 Local Government Areas of the state. 

The observation was supported by partner organisations — the CLEEN Foundation, Centre for Democracy and Development (CDD) and Kimpact Development Initiative (KDI) — which together deployed over 300 accredited observers. Additional reports were received through its Election Accountability Tracker mobile and web app.

Election Administration

The Situation Room said election officials and materials arrived on time in a majority of polling units observed between 7:00 a.m. and 9:30 a.m., with voting commencing in 87 per cent of the units observed. Voters who were still on the queue at the official close of polls by 2:30 p.m. were allowed to vote.

However, it noted delays in some locations due to late deployment of officials and materials. It attributed part of the delay to the late inclusion of the SDP candidate on the ballot following a Federal High Court judgment on July 22, 2026, which compelled INEC to reprint ballot papers and result sheets, thereby delaying the distribution of sensitive materials.

According to INEC, out of 2,339,233 registered voters in the state, 1,906,390 Permanent Voter Cards, representing 81.5 per cent, were collected. Total votes cast stood at 1,005,800, representing about 43.2 per cent voter turnout.

Technology:

The group flagged technical challenges with the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS), particularly slow facial recognition for elderly voters and congestion in polling units with large voter populations where only one BVAS device was provided.

Incidents cited include:

• Ila LGA, Ward 11, Iperin, PU Omotosho: BVAS reportedly failed to recognise elderly voters.

• Irepodun LGA, Ward 6, PU 17: Fingerprint authentication failed, forcing officials to resort to facial verification.

• Ayedaade LGA, Lagere/Amola Ward, PU 001: BVAS was very slow and had difficulty recognising older voters.

• Irewole LGA, Ward 9, PU 7, Country Lodge: BVAS was very slow in capturing both older and younger voters. 

Despite the hitches, upload of polling unit results to the INEC Result Viewing Portal (IReV) commenced at 3:49 p.m. on election day and reached 98.43 per cent as of August 16, 2026.

Security and Vote-Buying:

The Situation Room commended security agencies for maintaining a generally peaceful atmosphere despite a tense pre-election environment, noting that security personnel were visible in all observed polling units, although isolated cases of harassment and thuggery were reported.

It expressed concern over widespread vote-buying and inducement, citing the following cases:

• Isekan LGA, Alapomu 1, Odo-Osun Health Office, PU 006: Party agents allegedly called voters aside after voting to tick their names. • Irepodun LGA, Ward 2, PU 7: Voters reportedly wrote down their names with party agents after casting their votes. • Ife East LGA, Modakeke 1, Ward 08, PU at Community Grammar School, Toro Road: Voters allegedly displayed signs indicating their party choice before agents recorded their details and issued them tags. • Isokan LGA, Ward 6, PU 008: Sharing of jollof rice and drinks reportedly caused disorder. 

Inclusion and Compliance:

The group noted positive steps toward inclusion, including the display of bold posters for deaf voters in most polling units. However, it flagged inaccessible polling units located across gutters and staircases, limited disability-inclusive materials, and the unavailability of Form EC40H for capturing data on voters with disabilities.

It added that INEC largely adhered to voting procedures and that the window for downloading replacement PVCs, which closed on August 9, 2026, was duly implemented.

Recommendations:

The Situation Room warned that late judicial decisions affecting candidates pose a systemic risk to ballot production, logistics and voter education. It called on INEC, political parties, the judiciary and the National Assembly to ensure expeditious determination of pre-election matters.

It recommended that pre-election matters be concluded within constitutional timelines; security agencies and the EFCC strengthen mechanisms to detect and prosecute vote-buying and electoral violence; political parties deepen internal democracy and focus on issue-based campaigns; and INEC conduct a comprehensive and transparent post-election audit of logistics, poll opening times, BVAS performance, result transmission, security conduct and accessibility ahead of the 2027 general elections. 

The group urged candidates to accept the outcome peacefully or seek legal redress, and called on the Governor-elect and all stakeholders to use the post-election period to deepen accountability and inclusive governance.