INEC Chairman inspects Osun offices ahead of August governorship poll

The Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Professor Joash Amupitan, on Thursday inspected local government offices in Osun State to assess logistics and operational readiness ahead of the 15 August governorship election.

Accompanied by a delegation of INEC National Commissioners and Osun Resident Electoral Commissioner Barrister Oluwatoyin Babalola, Amupitan visited facility sites in Osogbo and Ede South—two of the 10 local government areas identified as election hotspots.

During the tour, the INEC chief inspected hardware, stationery, and non-sensitive electoral materials, while local Electoral Officers assured the delegation of their readiness to deploy personnel to field Registration Area Centres (RACs).

Technology, mock accreditation, and security measures

Speaking during the assessment tour, Professor Amupitan stated that the commission is “operationally, technologically, and logistically prepared” for the upcoming poll across 30 local government areas and 3,763 polling units.

Key highlights of INEC’s operational preparations include:

• Biometric Accreditation: A total of 4,427 Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) devices, including 664 reserve units, have been configured. Manual accreditation remains banned.
• Mock Accreditation: Scheduled for Saturday, 1 August 2026, across 12 selected local government areas to test technical hardware and system integration.
• Anti-Vote Buying Enforcement: Plainclothes financial intelligence officers from the EFCC and ICPC will monitor polling units to arrest and prosecute buyers and sellers under the Electoral Act 2026.
• Targeted Security: High-visibility, intelligence-led deployments will cover mapped risk corridors, including Osogbo, Ede North and South, Boripe, Ife Central, and Ila.

Professor Amupitan reiterated that election results will be scanned and uploaded directly to the INEC Result Viewing Portal (IReV) immediately after voting closes, urging political actors to avoid inflammatory tactics and allow the ballot to determine the outcome.