Ebenezer Adurokiya, Roporting
OSOGBO, Nigeria — The 2026 Osun State Governorship election has commenced with a generally orderly process, though marred by late starts, intermittent technical failures, and isolated reports of violence and voter inducement, according to a preliminary statement released by Kimpact Development Initiative (KDI).
According to Professor Abiola Akiyode-Afolabi, a renowned Nigerian lawyer and human rights activist, who addressed journalists Saturday afternoon in Osogbo, the election observer group deployed 370 trained personnel across the state’s 30 Local Government Areas.
While a majority of polling units commenced operations early, data suggests significant regional delays.
Tech Troubles and Delays
KDI reports that whilst 56.1% of polling units saw INEC officials arrive early or on time, the remainder experienced late arrivals.
The Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) recorded an overall success rate of 84.7% for accreditation attempts, leaving a 15.3% failure rate that was particularly pronounced in regions like Ifedayo, Osogbo, and Iwo . Encouragingly, the majority of election materials arrived intact.
Security and Conduct
As of noon, the Election Day Data Room logged only three verified violence-related incidents.
However, one of these involved political thugs allegedly disrupting a unit in Ilesa West LGA and snatching materials, whilst a separate report described police intervention in Ife East involving tear gas.
Reports of party-agent interference (17 incidents) and vote trading (19 incidents) remain “limited” relative to the scale of observations, though concentrated in specific LGAs such as Odo-Otin and Ejigbo
KDI has urged all stakeholders to “preserve a peaceful environment” and allow the collation process to proceed without obstruction. A full end-of-day assessment is expected later tonight.
