Osun Guber Election: Amupitan Says INEC Ready To Conduct Credible Poll

Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, (INEC) Prof. Joash Amupitan has assured the people of Osun State that the Commission has put everything needed for a free, fair and credible election in place.

Amupitan who spoke at the Osun State governorship election stakeholders forum in Osogbo said the commission is logistically, technologically, and operationally prepared to deliver an election that fully satisfies the standards of the Electoral Act 2026 and published Election Regulations and Guidelines.

His words: “In line with our statutory mandate, the commission has finalised and certified the comprehensive Register of Voters for this off-cycle election. For this election, the Total Registered Voters are 2,339,233, spread across 30 Local Government Areas, 332 Registration Areas (Wards), and 3,763 Polling Units in the state.

“Fourteen political parties will participate in the contest. As at the close of PVC collection yesterday, a total of 322,822, representing 62% of the newly registered voters, had collected their PVCs.

“The Commission has reviewed this development and, in the interest of inclusivity, decided to extend the collection till Friday, 31st July 2026 to enable those who have been unable to collect their PVCs to do so. This is to ensure that no eligible voter is disenfranchised.

“We have contacted security agencies and will request the ICEES to ensure massive deployment of patrol vehicles around the venue of the collection centres. Those concerned should take advantage of this window and collect their PVCs.

“Through the Automated Biometric Identification System (ABIS), double registrations and invalid entries were systematically purged. This clean, legally verified electorate of 2,339,233 citizens holds the exclusive authority to choose the leadership of Osun State.

“To eliminate early-morning deployment bottlenecks, we have decentralised our distribution network into 97 Super Registration Area Centres (Super RACs) and 105 Registration Area Centres (RACs) across the state. We will not compromise our transport logistics frameworks with the National Association of Road Transport Owners (NARTO), the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW), and the Road Transport Employers Association of Nigeria (RTEAN).

“Agreements will be fully ratified ahead of the election. Sensitive materials will be moved under strict security escorts, ad-hoc staff training has been concluded, and field teams will activate all 3,763 polling units simultaneously at 8:30 a.m. on Election Day.

According to him, a total of 4,427 Bimodal Voter Accreditation System devices have been customised and deployed for Osun State adding that they includes 664 dedicated backup units—representing a 15% operational reserve—stationed at RAC levels with specialised RACTECH officers to resolve hardware glitches instantly.

To ensure a hitch free election, Amupitan disclosed that the Commission will conduct mock accreditation across 12 selected local government areas in the state on 1st August 2026.

All political parties, security agencies, Civil Society Organisations, Student body, various interest groups were represented at the meeting.