Weighing in on the electoral process, a former Commissioner of the Independent National Electoral Commission, Festus Okoye, acknowledged the administrative innovations introduced under the leadership of the commission’s chairman, Professor Joash Amupitan.
But, Okoye urged the electoral leadership to further optimize the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BIVAS) technology, while responding to concerns in Saturday August 15th 2026 governorship election in Osun State.
He also called on the judiciary to refrain from issuing late pre-election judgements and orders close to election dates, warning that such timing can severely disrupt INEC’s logistical preparations, particularly regarding the late printing of ballot papers.
Okoye, alongside Lanre Arogundade, Executive Director and Secretary to the Board of the International Press Centre (IPC), called on election management bodies, the judiciary, the National Assembly, and other critical stakeholders to urgently dialogue on the lingering legal framework challenges.
Yiaga Africa, Election Monitoring Group’s Director of Programme, Cynthia Mbamalu, said its survey revealed that 78 percent of INEC officials and materials arrived polling units at the stipulated time (8:30am) across the 30 Local Government Areas in Saturday August 15, 2026 governorship election in Osun State.
But she lamented that there were instances were materials and officials arrived at polling units without security agents while others, were made to wait for security to get to election venues before voters began to experience their franchise in the poll.
The Founder of Albino Foundation, Mr. Jake Epelle, challenged INEC to be more proactive than been reactionary in approach to challenges recorded in past off circle elections, including the Osun election ahead of future elections in Nigeria.
