Osun Election: Yiaga Africa Warns Of Security Threats, BVAS Failures, Vote-Buying Ahead Of Saturday’s Poll | Sahara Reporters

According to the organisation, security personnel must secure the election without becoming participants in the electoral contest, applying the law impartially and avoiding conduct that could confer an advantage on, or create the perception of alignment with, any political actor.

Yiaga Africa has raised concerns over security threats, technical challenges with the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS), vote-buying, inflammatory rhetoric and logistical pressures ahead of the Osun State governorship election scheduled for Saturday, August 15, 2026.

The civil society organisation said the election would be a defining test of the Independent National Electoral Commission’s (INEC) preparedness, the neutrality and professionalism of security agencies, the conduct of political parties and candidates, and the resilience of voters in highly competitive and potentially violence-prone environment.

The statement was signed by Samson Itodo, Executive Director of Yiaga Africa, through Dr. Asmau Maikudi, Chair of the 2026 Osun Election Observation Mission.

The election is also the last major governorship poll before Nigeria’s 2027 general election and will provide an important early assessment of the country’s electoral preparedness under the new Electoral Act 2026.

According to Yiaga Africa, the election will test the implementation of key innovations introduced under the new law, including the use of downloadable Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) for accreditation and the implementation of INEC’s Regulations and Guidelines on the electronic EC8A and validation of polling-unit results within the results management process.

The organisation said the poll would also test whether political parties, election officials and voters understand and can effectively operate within the new legal and regulatory framework.

Yiaga Africa’s Watching The Vote (WTV) commenced its Pre-Election Observation (PREO) exercise in July 2026 to assess electoral preparedness, the nature of political campaigns and emerging security risks ahead of the election.

It said INEC’s preparations had advanced considerably in the final weeks before the poll, noting that PVC distribution was conducted across Registration Areas and subsequently at INEC Local Government Area offices in all 30 LGAs.

The electoral commission also conducted mock accreditation in 36 polling units across 12 LGAs and the three senatorial districts to test the functionality of the BVAS.

INEC says the election will be conducted across 3,763 polling units in the state’s 30 Local Government Areas, with 4,427 BVAS devices deployed.

A total of 2,339,233 registered voters are eligible to participate in the election.

Fifteen political parties have fielded candidates for the election. However, Yiaga Africa noted that only one of the candidates is a woman, while none publicly identifies as a person with disability.

The organisation said the situation reflects the continued underrepresentation of women and other marginalised groups in Nigeria’s political process.

“This persistent underrepresentation underscores the need for political parties to urgently reform their candidate nomination processes to promote the meaningful inclusion of women, young people, and persons with disabilities,” Yiaga Africa said.

The organisation said the August 15 election presented INEC with a critical opportunity to strengthen public confidence in Nigeria’s electoral process ahead of the 2027 general election.

It said this would require efficient logistics, transparent election result management, reliable election technology and consistent application of the Electoral Act 2026 and INEC’s Regulations and Guidelines.

Yiaga Africa also warned that security agencies had a heightened responsibility to demonstrate neutrality, professionalism and restraint.

According to the organisation, security personnel must secure the election without becoming participants in the electoral contest, applying the law impartially and avoiding conduct that could confer an advantage on, or create the perception of alignment with, any political actor.

“Voters in Osun and Yiaga Africa expect a credible, peaceful and conclusive election free from logistical failures, technological breakdowns, electoral violence, vote-buying and selective enforcement of the law,” the organisation said.

Yiaga Africa said INEC had undertaken key preparatory activities across all 30 LGAs, including PVC distribution, recruitment and training of election officials, mock accreditation, BVAS configuration, stakeholder engagement and election security coordination.

However, it cautioned that the completion of preparatory activities should not automatically be interpreted as readiness.

According to the organisation, the credibility of the election would ultimately depend on timely deployment, reliable technology, consistent application of the law and effective contingency planning.

“INEC must therefore avoid complacency, anticipate predictable points of failure, and demonstrate readiness through performance,” Yiaga Africa said.

The organisation disclosed that while most preparatory activities had been completed successfully, PVC collection was disrupted in Odo-Otin and Ife Central LGAs, limiting the ability of some voters to obtain their cards.

Although INEC has announced plans to enable affected voters to download electronic PVCs, Yiaga Africa expressed concern that limited access to digital services could prevent some eligible voters from benefiting from the arrangement.

It warned that the situation could increase the risk of voter disenfranchisement.

Yiaga Africa said security concerns had deepened in the final days before the election.

It observed that earlier security incidents were largely associated with political rivalry, campaign-related violence and conflicts within transport union structures.

However, incidents documented in the weeks preceding the election suggested a troubling shift towards direct disruption of electoral activities and contestation over strategic public spaces.

The organisation specifically cited the attack on a PVC collection centre in Odo-Otin LGA, politically linked violence in Osogbo LGA and disputes over control of motor parks as developments that had significantly heightened the security risks surrounding the poll.

Yiaga Africa also expressed concern over the escalation of incendiary rhetoric and hate speech attributed to political actors.

It warned that such rhetoric could legitimise violence, deepen partisan hostility and undermine public confidence in the electoral process.

Yiaga Africa condemned violent and inflammatory rhetoric, particularly when attributed to senior political figures who, it said, have a heightened responsibility to exercise restraint.

It called on security and law enforcement agencies to investigate and prosecute electoral violence, threats, hate speech and related offences regardless of the political status, party affiliation or influence of those involved.

“Selective enforcement will only reinforce perceptions of institutional bias and further erode confidence in election security,” it warned.

Another major concern identified by Yiaga Africa was the technical performance of the BVAS during INEC’s mock accreditation exercise.

The organisation said the exercise exposed significant technical challenges that could raise concerns about election-day readiness.

According to Yiaga Africa, some BVAS devices temporarily failed to recognise voters’ fingerprints, facial features and older PVC records.

INEC attributed the facial verification failures to an excessively high compatibility threshold affecting older voter data, particularly records that had not been revalidated.

Yiaga Africa warned that if the problems were not fully resolved before election day, they could disenfranchise eligible voters, cause delays and generate tension at polling units.

“If unresolved, these failures could disenfranchise eligible voters, generate tension at polling units and undermine confidence in the credibility and legitimacy of the election,” it said.

The organisation therefore called on INEC to resolve all outstanding technical problems before the commencement of voting.

Meanwhile, Yiaga Africa also raised concerns over the last-minute inclusion of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) candidate, Dr. Francis Olugbenga Ajala, and his running mate, Faseke Babajimi Oladipo, following a Federal High Court judgment directing INEC to include the party on the ballot.

The court-ordered inclusion meant INEC had to reprint ballot papers and result sheets, increasing the number of political parties on the ballot to 15.

According to Yiaga Africa, the revised election materials are expected to arrive in Osun on August 13, 2026, for onward distribution to the 30 LGAs.

The organisation said the development had already disrupted INEC’s standard deployment schedule and compressed the time available for sorting and distributing election materials.

Yiaga Africa said the late judicial intervention created avoidable operational pressure and heightened the possibility of delayed deployment, logistical errors and late commencement of voting.

“While compliance with court orders is obligatory, judicial decisions delivered at the eleventh hour can impose significant administrative costs on election management and potentially undermine public confidence in the process,” it said.

The organisation urged INEC to immediately activate contingency logistics arrangements to mitigate delays arising from the late arrival and redistribution of the revised ballot papers and result sheets.

It said the materials must reach all Registration Area Centres and polling units before voting begins

Yiaga Africa also identified voter inducement as a significant threat to the integrity of the election.

The organisation said it had documented the distribution of money and gift items by political actors.

While some of the distributions were presented as social interventions or charitable support, Yiaga Africa said their timing and proximity to campaign activities raised serious concerns about voter inducement and undue influence.

It urged political parties, candidates and their supporters to refrain from vote-buying and practices that compromise ballot secrecy.

The organisation said voters must be allowed to freely exercise their constitutional choice without financial inducement or coercion.

The organisation also called on security personnel deployed for the election to respect the rights of citizens, journalists and observers.

This includes respecting the freedom of movement of duly accredited observers and media practitioners on election day.

Yiaga Africa further called for better coordination between security agencies, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) in arresting political party leaders, agents and others involved in vote-buying before or during the election.

The organisation urged political parties and candidates to commit themselves to the terms of the Peace Accord and ensure peaceful engagement ahead of and during the election.

It also called on candidates and political parties to restrain their supporters from engaging in violence or inflammatory activities.