Yiaga Africa said that the 2026 Osun State governorship election has demonstrated that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) can deliver a credible electoral process.
Speaking at a press conference in Osogbo on Sunday, Dr. Asmau Maikudi, Chair, 2026 Osun Election Observation Mission, Yiaga Africa said said the election provided an important test of Nigeria’s new Electoral Act 2026 and the capacity of electoral institutions ahead of the 2027 general elections.
Maikudi charged INEC that the performance at the concluded governorship election now has to be reproduced across 176,000 polling units and 36 states in 2027, without the concentration of attention and resources a single-state election attracts.
‘Osun demonstrates that INEC can meet a high operational standard, apply the Electoral Act 2026 and transmit results transparently when the election is well resourced and closely watched.
‘The task for INEC is therefore to convert the lessons from Osun into institutional standards. That means strengthening quality assurance for sensitive materials; resolving inconsistencies in voter data; standardizing implementation of downloadable PVCs and other provisions of the Electoral Act 2026; improving the resilience and transparency of IReV; and institutionalizing prompt public communication whenever technological or operational failures occur,’ she said.
She also said its observers found that INEC and security agencies largely passed the test of election-day preparedness.
Maikudi said, ‘this conclusion is important because Osun was not an ordinary off-cycle election. It was the last major governorship election before the 2027 general election and one of the earliest major tests of the Electoral Act 2026 and the new regulatory framework for election administration and results management.’
She said election logistics improved significantly, with 48 percent of its sampled polling units commencing accreditation and voting by 8:30 a.m., rising to 96 percent by 9:30 a.m.
Maikudi also said the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) functioned properly in 80 percent of polling units, while malfunctions recorded in 20 percent of polling units were fixed.
However, the organisation identified gaps in the implementation of electoral technology, particularly cases involving biometric authentication and the use of downloadable Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs).
According to Yiaga Africa, downloadable PVCs were presented for accreditation in 23 percent of polling units, while observers reported that some voters presenting the digital documents were denied accreditation in seven percent of polling units.
She further said its most significant concern was not the accuracy of the announced results but the circumstances surrounding voters’ choices, citing widespread reports of vote buying and voter inducement.
Yiaga Africa said its independent statistical analysis showed that INEC’s official results were consistent with the ballots counted at polling units. Its estimates placed the Accord Party between 50.3 percent and 54.0 percent, ADC between 1.4 percent and 2.1 percent, and APC between 43.0 percent and 46.8 percent of the vote.
The organisation said INEC’s official results of 51.9 percent for Accord, 1.7 percent for ADC and 45.2 percent for APC fell within its estimated ranges.
‘INEC’s official results for the 2026 Osun State Governorship Election are consistent with Yiaga Africa’s WTV estimate, as they fall within Yiaga Africa’s estimated range. This indicates that the official results, as announced, reflect the ballots counted at polling units,’ she stated.
The organisation commended Osun voters for turning out despite what it described as an atmosphere of apprehension created by violence, inflammatory rhetoric and other pre-election concerns.
Maikudi stated that, ‘the resilience of voters in Osun was the quiet achievement of the August 15th elections. Citizens went to the polls in an environment shaped by the attack on PVC collection centers, politically linked violence, contestation over motor parks, and weeks of inflammatory rhetoric, conditions that Yiaga Africa warned could suppress voter participation.
‘Despite this, the tension, voters came out regardless. The turnout of 43% achieved under that apprehension is not a story of apathy but of citizens who refused to be intimidated out of the process.’
The observer group urged INEC to strengthen BVAS testing and maintenance, standardise the use of downloadable PVCs, improve IReV’s resilience and ensure prompt public communication whenever technological or operational failures occur.