INEC reissues ballots after court forces last-minute candidate inclusion

Nigeria’s electoral body has begun handing out newly reprinted ballot papers and result sheets to political parties in the south-western state of Osun, following a late court ruling that forced officials to alter voting materials just days before a crucial regional election.

Officials from the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) worked late into Thursday night in Osogbo, the state capital, distributing the updated materials to representatives across all 30 of the state’s local council areas ahead of Saturday’s governorship poll.

The last-minute logistical rush follows a Federal High Court judgment ordering election authorities to include the candidate of the Social Democratic Party (SDP), Francis Ajala, and his running mate, Faseke Oladipo, on the official voting slips. The court had ruled in July that INEC must recognise Mr Ajala’s candidature. The commission officially updated its roster on Wednesday, triggering a rapid reprint of millions of ballot papers and official result logs to reflect the full slate of contestants.

Measures to curb fraud

To address long-standing concerns over electoral transparency and potential vote rigging in Africa’s most populous nation, election officials confirmed that all reprinted materials have been specially security-marked. Speaking at the state headquarters on Thursday night, Osun State Electoral Commissioner Oluwatoyin Babalola assured party representatives that the result sheets had been customised specifically for each voting site to prevent material swapping or fraud.”Everything is going to be customised. All the results already have the name of the polling units on them,” Mrs. Babalola told journalists as party delegates inspected and signed for the documents. Under standard procedure, party agents must verify and sign the result sheets before they are dispatched to local council areas, where they will then be distributed to individual polling booths on the morning of the election.

The Osun election is seen as a major test of administrative readiness for Nigeria’s electoral body, as rival political parties compete for control of the strategically important south-western state.