By Ikugbadi Oluwasegun
The Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Professor Joash Amupitan (SAN), on Saturday, declared the commission fully prepared for the August 15 Osun State governorship election, assuring voters that the democratic process would not be undermined by violence or intimidation.
Prof. Joash Amupitan gave the assurance during a media briefing at the end of a five-day readiness assessment tour of the state, following the commission’s statewide mock accreditation exercise conducted across selected polling units in the three senatorial districts.
The INEC chairman said the exercise, which tested the functionality of the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS), confirmed the commission’s technological and operational preparedness for the election.
According to him, the mock accreditation demonstrated improved voter verification, with most accreditations completed through facial recognition within seconds, while technical issues identified during the exercise were promptly resolved by the commission’s ICT team.
“The mock accreditation exercise is our quality control protocol. What we saw today confirmed that our technological defence against identity theft and result manipulation is robust and fully operational,” he said.
To strengthen election-day operations, the INEC chairman disclosed that the commission had increased the number of BVAS devices for the election from 4,427 to 5,130, while backup devices had been doubled from 664 to 1,328 to ensure quick replacement in the event of malfunction.
He said 2,339,233 eligible voters would participate in the election across 3,763 polling units in 332 wards spread across the state’s 30 local government areas, adding that the training of 16,374 ad hoc staff was nearing completion.
Amupitan noted that all 14 political parties contesting the election had signed the Peace Accord facilitated by the National Peace Committee,
On security, he said INEC had adopted a proactive approach through the Inter-Agency Consultative Committee on Election Security (ICCES), with intelligence-led deployments planned for identified flashpoints across the state.
The commission, he added, had also intensified collaboration with security agencies to tackle vote buying and other electoral offences.
He said the commission’s readiness assessment also included engagements with traditional rulers, including the Ooni of Ife and the Ataoja of Osogbo, who pledged to mobilise their subjects for peaceful participation in the election.
He added that meetings were held with transport unions to finalise logistics arrangements, while inspection visits to local government offices confirmed that non-sensitive election materials had been deployed ahead of the poll.
Calling on journalists to support credible elections, Amupitan urged the media to verify information before publication and avoid spreading misinformation capable of creating unnecessary panic among voters.
