The European Union Support to Democratic Governance in Nigeria Election Observation Hub (EU-SDGN EOH) has raised concerns over security threats, vote buying, disinformation and transparency in the electronic transmission of results ahead of Saturday’s Osun State governorship election.
The EU-SDGN EOH, comprising six Nigerian civil society organisations, said it had deployed 843 observers across Osun State to monitor the election scheduled for August 15, 2026.
In its pre-election statement issued on Friday, the Hub described the electoral environment as highly competitive and tense, citing political rivalry, unresolved disputes over local government administration, security concerns and operational challenges.
The observers identified vote buying and voter inducement as the highest threat to the credibility of the election, saying reports of financial and material inducements had circulated in the run-up to the poll.
The Hub urged relevant agencies to take decisive and evidence-based action against those involved in vote buying, including arrest, investigation and prosecution, to deter further violations.
According to the statement, security risks ahead of the election are linked to political violence, disputes over local government secretariats, criminal activities and the spread of fake news, misinformation and disinformation.
The Nigeria Police Force is expected to lead the security operation, with a proposed deployment of up to 30,000 security and law-enforcement personnel drawn from various agencies.
The EU-SDGN EOH also expressed concern over allegations of police brutality, illegal arrests and extrajudicial killings, urging security agencies to remain professional, neutral and impartial throughout the election.
The observers also raised concerns over aspects of INEC’s electronic results transmission process.
While acknowledging that the Electoral Act 2026 requires Presiding Officers to electronically transmit polling-unit results to the INEC Result Viewing Portal (IReV), the Hub said there was insufficient public clarity regarding the electronic EC8A and the backend validation process before results are published.
It called on INEC to publish a clear, end-to-end protocol explaining the results transmission process and clarifying which version of a result would prevail if discrepancies arise.
The Hub further urged INEC to publish ward-level and local government-level collation results on IReV to enable voters, political parties and observers to verify results throughout the collation process.
The EU-SDGN EOH acknowledged INEC’s reported operational and logistical preparedness, including the configuration and charging of BVAS devices, distribution of non-sensitive materials and deployment preparations for the state’s 3,763 polling units.
It noted that INEC had increased the number of BVAS devices from 4,427 to 5,130, including 1,367 backup devices, following technical challenges observed during a mock accreditation exercise.
The election will feature 15 candidates, with 2,339,233 registered voters across 3,763 polling units, 332 Registration Areas and 30 Local Government Areas.
The Hub said 1,906,390 registered voters, representing 81.50 per cent, had collected their Permanent Voter Cards.
The EU-SDGN EOH appealed to political parties and candidates to respect the July 30 Peace Accord, reject violence and accept the outcome declared by INEC while pursuing grievances through lawful and judicial channels.
It also urged voters to come out early, vote freely and reject financial or material inducements.
The Hub called on the media to verify information before publication and avoid broadcasting unofficial results, particularly amid the spread of misinformation across social media platforms.
The observers stressed that the credibility of Saturday’s election would ultimately depend on a free, fair, credible and peaceful polling, collation and declaration process, supported by a transparent and verifiable chain of results from polling units to the final declaration.
