The campaign organisation of Osun State Governor Ademola Adeleke has called on the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to take urgent steps to guarantee the credibility of the August 15 governorship election, raising 10 key issues it said require immediate attention.
Speaking at a press conference in Osogbo on Monday, the Director-General of the Adeleke Campaign Council, Senator Kamarudeen Olalere Oyewumi, said the concerns were informed by reports from election observers, findings of the council's Election Surveillance and Data Analysis Unit and experiences from recent elections conducted across the country.
According to him, the observations were drawn from the 2026 FCT Area Council election, the Ekiti State governorship election and the June 20 bye-elections held in Enugu, Nasarawa, Ondo, Rivers, Kano and Kebbi states.
Oyewumi said the campaign was engaging INEC constructively to ensure that the Osun governorship election meets acceptable democratic standards.
"Our objective is not to discredit INEC but to encourage improvements that will guarantee a transparent, peaceful and credible election in Osun State," he said.
Among the issues highlighted were alleged shortages of ballot papers and other sensitive election materials in previous elections, which he said resulted in voter disenfranchisement and avoidable tension.
He urged INEC to strengthen its logistics, publish details of materials deployed to each polling unit and establish effective monitoring systems to quickly address any shortages on election day.
The campaign council also expressed concern over alleged irregularities in the distribution of Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs), claiming that reports from previous off-cycle elections suggested that PVCs were issued to suspected mercenary voters shortly before voting commenced.
Oyewumi called for a transparent PVC distribution process and warned against any attempt to manipulate the electoral process through unlawful voter accreditation.
He also urged the electoral commission to ensure the security of ballot papers and result sheets, citing allegations of pre-thumb-printed ballot papers and administrative lapses in recent elections.
The council further called on INEC to thoroughly verify ballot papers to ensure that only political parties with duly nominated candidates appear on election materials.
On technology, the Adeleke campaign expressed concern over the performance of the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS), saying technical failures experienced during previous elections delayed accreditation in some polling units.
Oyewumi urged the commission to adequately test all BVAS devices before deployment and provide backup arrangements where necessary.
He also cited reports by election observer groups, including Yiaga Africa and the Nigeria Civil Society Situation Room, alleging incidents of vote buying, result management lapses, accreditation challenges and breaches of ballot secrecy during recent elections.
The campaign appealed to INEC to address those issues before the Osun poll.
The council further noted that its analysis of the state's voters' register showed that thousands of polling units have more than 500 registered voters, with over 1,200 polling units exceeding 1,000 registered voters.
It therefore called for the deployment of additional electoral personnel and BVAS machines to heavily populated polling units to reduce delays and improve the voting process.
Oyewumi also urged INEC and security agencies to investigate allegations circulating on social media regarding the possible compromise of BVAS devices and election result sheets, saying any such development would undermine public confidence in the election.
The campaign equally called for wider access to the ongoing PVC distribution exercise, recommending that collection be decentralised to ward level, supported by mobile collection centres and extended to weekends to enable more eligible voters to obtain their cards.
He appealed to security agencies to remain neutral throughout the election and urged political parties and their supporters to conduct themselves peacefully.
"The people of Osun deserve an election that reflects their true democratic choice. Every lawful vote must count, and every eligible voter must be allowed to participate without intimidation or manipulation," Oyewumi said.
INEC had not responded to the issues raised by the Adeleke Campaign Council as of the time of filing this report.
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