By John Dike, Osogbo
The Imole Campaign Council (TICC) of Osun State Governor and Accord Party candidate, Governor Ademola Adeleke, has raised 10 major concerns before the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
It asked the electoral body to urgently address what it described as glaring shortcomings witnessed in recent elections across the country ahead of the August 15, 2026 Osun State governorship election.
The Director-General of the campaign council, Senator Kamarudeen Olalere Oyewumi, made the demands on Monday while addressing journalists in Osogbo, the state capital
He said the concerns were informed by reports of accredited election observers, publicly available evidence, findings of the council’s election surveillance team and experiences shared by voters during the 2026 FCT Area Council election, the Ekiti State governorship election and the June 20 bye-elections conducted in Enugu, Nasarawa, Ondo, Rivers, Kano and Kebbi states.
Oyewumi stressed that the council’s intervention was not intended to undermine confidence in INEC but to strengthen the electoral process and ensure that the Osun governorship election is conducted in a transparent, peaceful and credible manner.
According to him, democracy derives its legitimacy from public confidence, warning that once citizens lose faith in the electoral process, democratic governance itself becomes endangered.
He therefore called on INEC, security agencies, election observers, political parties and other stakeholders to take proactive measures to prevent a recurrence of the lapses recorded in previous elections.
The campaign council’s first concern centred on the deployment of insufficient ballot papers and other sensitive election materials, citing reports from the FCT Area Council election where ballot papers were allegedly missing or snatched in some polling units, particularly in Abaji Area Council.
Oyewumi said such incidents disrupted voting, created avoidable tension and disenfranchised eligible voters.
He urged INEC to publicly document the quantity of ballot papers and sensitive materials deployed to every polling unit in Osun, strengthen chain-of-custody procedures and establish real-time monitoring mechanisms capable of detecting shortages before they affect voting.
The council also expressed serious concern over alleged distribution of Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) to suspected mercenary voters during recent off-cycle elections in some states.
According to Oyewumi, viral videos allegedly showed individuals receiving PVCs shortly before voting, adding that INEC had neither offered satisfactory explanations nor outrightly dismissed the authenticity of the incidents.
He warned that Osun people would resist any attempt to manipulate the election through unlawful distribution of PVCs or the importation of mercenary voters.
Another issue highlighted by the campaign council was the alleged distribution of already thumb-printed ballot papers during the Ekiti governorship election and the FCT Area Council election.
Although he stopped short of confirming the allegations, Oyewumi insisted that INEC must guarantee that ballot papers and result sheets deployed for the Osun election remain secure and inaccessible to unauthorized persons.
He maintained that there must be no room for cloning, duplication or tampering with sensitive electoral materials.
The council equally faulted reports that political parties which did not field candidates reportedly appeared on ballot papers and result sheets during some recent elections.
Describing the development as a serious administrative failure capable of undermining electoral integrity, Oyewumi urged INEC to thoroughly verify all ballot papers and result sheet templates before the Osun election to ensure that only duly nominated political parties appear on election materials.
On the deployment of technology, the campaign council raised concerns over technical challenges associated with the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS).
Oyewumi cited reports from election observers indicating that BVAS machines experienced operational difficulties during voter accreditation, especially among elderly voters whose facial features were allegedly difficult to capture.
He said technology should facilitate, rather than frustrate, the voting process and urged INEC to comprehensively test, calibrate and deploy functional BVAS machines across all polling units in Osun.
The campaign council also condemned reports that some individuals allegedly voted without presenting their Permanent Voter Cards during the Ekiti governorship election.
Referring to reports by the Nigeria Civil Society Situation Room, Oyewumi said the alleged incident occurred in Ekiti West Local Government Area and amounted to a violation of Section 47 of the Electoral Act.
He argued that allowing individuals to vote without PVCs opens the door to impersonation, multiple voting and participation by ineligible persons, thereby undermining public confidence in election outcomes.
The council further relied on findings by Yiaga Africa, which reportedly identified several integrity concerns during recent elections, including vote buying, lapses in result management, BVAS-related accreditation challenges, breaches of ballot secrecy and inadequate public communication by the electoral umpire.
Oyewumi urged INEC to treat those observations as early warning signals and introduce stronger safeguards before the Osun governorship election.
On logistics, the campaign council disclosed that its Election Surveillance and Data Analysis Unit had reviewed the recently published Osun voters register and found that about 2,500 of the state’s over 3,000 polling units have more than 500 registered voters, while over 1,200 polling units have more than 1,000 registered voters.
According to him, such heavily populated polling units require additional BVAS machines, election officials and accreditation equipment in line with Section 23 of INEC’s Regulations and Guidelines for the Conduct of Elections 2026.
He said adequate deployment would reduce delays, prevent overcrowding and ensure that every registered voter has the opportunity to cast his or her ballot within the stipulated time.
The campaign council also raised concerns over what it described as alleged boastful statements by some leaders of the All Progressives Congress (APC) claiming that BVAS machines had already been preloaded ahead of the election.
Oyewumi said if such claims were true, they would amount to a direct attack on the credibility of electronic accreditation and could undermine public confidence in the election.
He also alleged reports of plans to print extra result sheets, describing any such development as a grave threat capable of facilitating result manipulation.
The council therefore called on INEC, security agencies and relevant authorities to investigate the claims, secure and audit all BVAS devices and election result sheets and publicly reassure Osun residents that adequate safeguards are in place against technological or administrative manipulation.
Finally, the campaign council demanded transparency in the ongoing distribution of newly produced Permanent Voter Cards.
While acknowledging that INEC had commenced PVC distribution, Oyewumi expressed concern over the transparency of the exercise, warning against any attempt to disenfranchise registered voters by withholding their PVCs.
He noted that about 381,817 newly registered voters, alongside others who applied for transfers or replacement of damaged cards, should be given unhindered access to collect their PVCs before election day.
He recommended that INEC decentralise the distribution exercise to ward level, deploy mobile collection teams and extend operations to weekends to ensure wider accessibility.
In his concluding remarks,
Oyewumi reiterated that the campaign council remained committed to engaging democratic institutions through lawful means to protect the votes of Osun people.
He called on security agencies to remain neutral and professional, urged political parties and their supporters to conduct themselves peacefully, and appealed to INEC to address all identified concerns before August 15.
“The purpose of this press conference is not to undermine confidence in INEC but to strengthen the electoral process through constructive engagement,” he said.
“The people of Osun are peaceful, politically conscious and committed to democracy. They deserve a free, fair, transparent and credible election. Every legitimate vote must count, and every legitimate vote must be protected.”
The press conference comes as political activities intensify across Osun State ahead of the August 15 governorship election, with political parties stepping up campaigns while INEC continues preparations for the poll.
