By Florence Joshua
The Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Joash Amupitan (SAN), has assured residents and political stakeholders in Osun State of the Commission’s readiness to conduct a credible, peaceful and transparent governorship election on August 15, declaring that there will be no compromise in logistics, security or voter accreditation.
Speaking during a stakeholders’ meeting in Osogbo on Wednesday, Prof. Amupitan unveiled a series of measures aimed at ensuring the election is free, fair, inclusive and conclusive.
To enable more eligible voters participate in the election, the INEC Chairman announced the extension of Permanent Voter Card (PVC) collection until Friday, July 31, 2026.
According to him, as of Tuesday, 322,822 PVCs, representing about 60 per cent of newly registered voters, had been collected.
“In the interest of inclusivity, the Commission has decided to extend the collection of PVCs till Friday, July 31, to enable those who have been unable to collect their cards to do so. This is to ensure that no eligible voter is disenfranchised,” he said.
He disclosed that Osun State has 2,339,233 registered voters spread across 30 local government areas, 332 wards and 3,763 polling units, following the cleanup of the voters’ register using the Automated Biometric Identification System (ABIS), which removed cases of double registration and invalid entries.
Prof. Amupitan also reaffirmed the Commission’s commitment to efficient election logistics, stressing that INEC would strictly enforce its Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with transport unions.
“We will not compromise our transport logistics framework with the transport unions that we have already signed an MoU with. The transport unions represent INEC on election day, and therefore they must remain neutral and must not support any political party,” he said.
To guarantee the timely commencement of voting across the state, he said Registration Area Centres (RACs) would open from 12 noon on Friday, August 14, allowing election materials, security personnel, transport providers and ad hoc staff to be deployed ahead of election day.
The Commission has also established 97 Super Registration Area Centres and 105 Registration Area Centres to decentralise distribution and improve logistics.
Prof. Amupitan announced that Electoral Officers whose local government areas achieve 100 per cent commencement of voting by 8:30 a.m. would be rewarded.
“The reason we are doing this is to avoid any form of malpractice. If voting starts late and extends into the night, anything can happen,” he noted.
On security, the INEC Chairman disclosed that security agencies have received firm operational directives to neutralise political thuggery, cult activities and any attempt to disrupt the electoral process.
“Security forces have been issued strict operational directives to neutralise thuggery, cult movements and any attempt at ballot disruption while maintaining absolute professional neutrality,” he said.
He explained that through the Electoral Risk Management framework and the Inter-Agency Consultative Committee on Election Security (ICCES), INEC had identified potential flashpoints requiring additional security deployment.
The affected areas include parts of Atakunmosa East and West, Boripe, Ede North and South, Ife Central, Ifedayo, Ila, Ifelodun, Osogbo and Oriade Local Government Areas.
To strengthen the integrity of the election, Prof. Amupitan disclosed that 4,427 Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) machines have been deployed, with an additional 664 backup devices available in case of technical failure.
He announced that a mock accreditation exercise would be conducted on August 1 in 12 local government areas, reiterating that biometric fingerprint or facial authentication through BVAS remains the only legal means of voter accreditation.
“No manual accreditation will be allowed,” he emphasised.
The INEC Chairman further confirmed that 14 political parties have been cleared to participate in the governorship election.
Speaking at the meeting, National Commissioner supervising Osun State, Prof. Kunle Ajayi, expressed confidence in the Commission’s preparedness and commended the leadership of Prof. Amupitan for prioritising staff welfare and election planning.
“The people of Osun deserve an election that reflects their will, free from undue influence, violence and malpractice,” he said, while urging political parties and their supporters to conduct peaceful campaigns and avoid inflammatory rhetoric.
Also speaking, Osun State Resident Electoral Commissioner, Barrister Oluwatoyin Babalola, reaffirmed the Commission’s commitment to professionalism, neutrality and transparency.
She said engagements with transport unions and security agencies had been intensified to ensure seamless movement of personnel and election materials before, during and after the poll.
Babalola added that security agencies would administer oaths of loyalty and neutrality to all officers deployed for the election, as provided under the Electoral Act.
She called on political actors, traditional rulers and community leaders to reject violence and support peaceful conduct throughout the electoral process.
The Osun State governorship election is scheduled to hold on Saturday, August 15, 2026.
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