Osun Guber: Vote-buying biggest threat to election — EU observers

By Adebola Muili

Vote-buying and voter inducement have been identified as the biggest threats to the credibility of tomorrow’s Osun State governorship election, with the European Union Support to Democratic Governance in Nigeria Election Observation Hub (EUSDGN-EОH) calling for the arrest and prosecution of perpetrators.

The Hub, which made this known in its pre-election statement on Friday, said it had deployed 843 election observers across the state to monitor, document and report on the electoral process.

The statement was presented by the Chief Executive Officer of TAF Africa, Jake Epelle, and Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian Women’s Trust Fund, Brenda Anugwom, while the Executive Director of the International Press Centre (IPC), Lanre Arogundade, spoke on the safety of journalists covering the election.

The EUSDGN-EОH, comprising the Centre for Media and Society, IPC, Nigerian Women’s Trust Fund, TAF Africa, KUKA Centre and YIAGA Africa, said the election, holding tomorrow, Saturday, August 15, 2026, would provide another opportunity to test Nigeria’s electoral legal framework and assess the preparedness of stakeholders ahead of the 2027 general elections.

According to the Hub, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has declared itself operationally, technologically and logistically ready for the election, with the Resident Electoral Commissioner, Mrs Oluwatoyin Babalola, confirming the configuration and charging of the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) devices and distribution of election materials.

It said about 17,500 ad hoc personnel had been recruited, trained and deployed, while 97 Super Registration Area Centres and 105 Registration Area Centres had been activated to facilitate the opening of the state’s 3,763 polling units by 8:30 a.m.

The observers noted that INEC had also increased the number of BVAS devices from 4,427 to 5,130, with 1,367 devices as backups, following technical challenges recorded during the August 1 mock accreditation exercise.

The Hub, however, expressed concerns over the electronic results transmission and validation process, urging INEC to subject its back-end validation process to independent scrutiny and publish a clear protocol explaining the process from polling-unit level to final declaration.

It said the results transmission process must be transparent and verifiable to enable citizens to trace the outcome of the election from individual polling units to the final declaration.

On security, the EUSDGN-EОH said the state was entering the election with a high overall security risk, citing political violence, disputes over control of local government structures, criminal activities and the spread of fake news, misinformation and disinformation.

It said the risks included attacks on party leaders and offices, shootings, political abductions and violence during campaign rallies.

The Hub disclosed that the Nigeria Police Force, in collaboration with the Osun State Police Command and other security agencies, had developed an operational framework involving the deployment of up to 30,000 security and law enforcement personnel for the election.

The personnel, it said, would include specialised tactical and canine units, with support from the Nigerian Army, Department of State Services, Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, Nigeria Immigration Service, Nigeria Correctional Service, Federal Road Safety Corps and the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency.

The observers, however, raised concern over allegations of police brutality, illegal arrests, misuse of force and extrajudicial killings, warning that such allegations could undermine public confidence in the neutrality of security agencies during the election.

The Hub urged security personnel to remain professional, impartial and diligent in protecting voters, election officials, journalists, observers and other stakeholders.

On inclusive participation, the group called on INEC, security agencies, political parties and other stakeholders to ensure the safe participation of women, youths and persons with disabilities.

It particularly advocated transportation support, assistive devices, gender-sensitive security planning and priority voting for vulnerable persons.

The Hub said, “The EUSDGN Election Observation Hub has identified the menace of vote buying and voter inducement as the highest threat to the credibility of tomorrow’s election.”

It noted that INEC had indicated that plain-clothes financial intelligence officers working with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) would be deployed around polling units to deter and prosecute vote-buying.

The observers urged the relevant agencies to arrest, investigate and prosecute persons involved in vote-buying, describing the practice as capable of undermining Nigeria’s democracy.

The Hub also appealed to political parties and their supporters to respect the July 30 Peace Accord, accept the outcome declared by INEC and pursue any grievances through lawful and judicial means.

It urged voters to come out en masse and vote freely without inducement, intimidation or coercion, while reporting incidents of vote-buying and electoral malpractice to INEC, security agencies or accredited observers.

Meanwhile, the IPC Executive Director, Arogundade, announced the deployment of a WhatsApp-enabled live election incident reporting system, WAFLO, to document attacks and other incidents involving journalists during the election.

According to him, WAFLO, an AI-assisted platform, will facilitate real-time reporting, documentation and monitoring of assaults, threats and other infringements against journalists and media professionals.

He said the Osun election would serve as a pilot for the system ahead of its proposed full deployment during the 2027 general elections.

“The fundamental goal is to ensure that no incident against journalists goes unreported,” Arogundade said.

He urged journalists covering the election to carry their accreditation cards, press tags and other relevant credentials at all times, while calling on security agencies to respect the rights of journalists to cover the election.