2026 Osun governorship election: INEC chairman Amupitan rounds off tour

The Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Joash Amupitan, SAN, has declared that it was fully prepared for the 15 August 2026 Osun state governorship polls.

Amupitan stated this on Saturday , as he wound up a five-day readiness assessment tour of the state with an interactive session with media executives in Osogbo.

The INEC Chairman had led a team of National Commissioners, the Resident Electoral Commissioner for Osun state, and other senior officials on a field inspection of the ongoing mock Accreditation exercise across polling units in Obokun, Egbedore, and Osogbo local government areas, where he assessed the performance of the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS).

Speaking with newsmen during the exercise, Prof. Amupitan gave the accreditation process a satisfactory pass mark, describing the field test as a critical step in ascertaining the functionality of the technology ahead of the election.

The INEC Chairman who later addressed media executive at the INEC State Office, Osogbo, said the interactive session was deliberately timed, coming exactly 15 days to the governorship poll, and described the media as an indispensable partner in the electoral process.

He said the Commission had gone into the field rather than rely on paperwork, describing the mock accreditation as INEC’s quality assurance protocol designed to stress-test its technological infrastructure under real-world conditions.

According to him, the BVAS demonstrated strong field resilience, with voter verification taking between 30 seconds and two minutes using fingerprint or facial recognition, while the dual-authentication design significantly reduced cases of non-verification.

The Chairman disclosed that, in response to concerns raised by some political parties, the commission had increased the total number of BVAS devices for the election from 4,427 to 5,130, to service split polling units in Ife East, Irewole, Egbedore, Ede North, and Osogbo, with backup devices similarly raised from 664 to 1,328 for prompt intervention in the event of malfunction.

He said the Commission’s engagement with stakeholders in Osun State had been inclusive, noting that a Stakeholders’ Conference was recently held where political parties, civil society organisations, and community leaders deliberated on a road map for a peaceful election.

On security, Prof. Amupitan said INEC had integrated an Electoral Risk Management (ERM) framework into its planning to systematically collect, analyse, and monitor risk indicators across the state.

He listed Atakumosa East and West, Boripe, Ede North and South, Ife Central, Ifedayo, Ila, Osogbo, Ifelodun, and Oriade Local Government Areas as identified hotspots that would receive specialised, high-visibility security deployment, working through the Inter-Agency Consultative Committee on Election Security (ICCES).

On logistics, the INEC Chairman said the Commission had held intensive meetings with transport unions, including the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) and the National Association of Road Transport Owners (NARTO), and had finalised agreements with them after addressing concerns raised by some political parties.