By: Goodluck E.Adubazi, Abuja.

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), under its Chairman, Prof. Joash Amupitan, SAN, has emerged from the August 15 Osun State governorship election with a mixed but largely encouraging assessment, demonstrating improved transparency and electoral management while still facing significant challenges, particularly vote-buying, logistics and communication.
The election ended with the re-election of Governor Ademola Adeleke of the Accord Party, who secured 511,067 votes to defeat the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate, Bola Oyebamiji, who polled 444,815 votes. The African Democratic Congress (ADC) candidate, Najeem Salaam, finished third with 17,180 votes.

Beyond Adeleke’s victory, however, the Osun poll has provided an important test of whether Amupitan’s INEC can translate its promises of institutional renewal, technology-driven transparency and stakeholder engagement into an electoral process capable of withstanding public scrutiny.

The emerging verdict is cautiously positive.
The election was competitive and largely peaceful, while the deployment of the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS), electronic result transmission and the INEC Result Viewing Portal (IReV) provided additional layers of transparency.

However, the poll was not without shortcomings. Concerns over vote-buying, logistics, late arrival of electoral materials and communication gaps surrounding result uploads showed that significant weaknesses remain within the electoral system.

Peaceful Poll Amid Security Concerns
The election was conducted against a backdrop of concerns over violence, intimidation, vote-buying and other forms of electoral malpractice.

INEC had identified 385 flashpoints across the state, while civil society organisations classified several local government areas as critical or high-risk.
Despite the concerns, voting was largely peaceful across the state.

YIAGA Africa, which deployed observers across all 30 local government areas, said INEC and the security agencies largely passed the test.

The organisation also noted that the election demonstrated how institutions, technology and active citizen participation could combine to strengthen electoral credibility.

This represents one of the clearest positives for Amupitan’s INEC.

The election involved a sitting governor seeking re-election in a state with a history of intense political competition. Yet, the process did not degenerate into the widespread violence or institutional crisis often associated with closely contested Nigerian elections.

The 66,252-vote margin between Adeleke and Oyebamiji does not, by itself, establish the credibility of the election. Similarly, a peaceful election does not mean that every aspect of the process was perfect.

What strengthens INEC’s position, however, is that the declaration of the result has not triggered the kind of immediate institutional crisis that has historically followed disputed elections.

Political Acceptance Boosts INEC’s Credibility

The post-election reactions have also contributed to the relatively calm atmosphere.

Salaam congratulated Adeleke and described the outcome as evidence that democracy prevailed, while President Bola Tinubu also congratulated the governor, saying his victory reflected the will of the people.

The President commended INEC and the security agencies for what he described as a peaceful and transparent election.

The reaction is politically significant because Adeleke defeated the candidate of the APC-led Federal Government in the state.

Tinubu’s acceptance of the outcome helps remove one familiar source of post-election tension: the perception that the federal political establishment would not accept an opposition victory.
For INEC, this provides an important institutional advantage.

The commission’s responsibility is not to produce a particular political outcome but to provide a process in which candidates can compete, voters can make their choices and political actors can accept credible results.

Interestingly, Adeleke, after his victory, also reaffirmed his support for President Tinubu’s 2027 re-election bid, demonstrating that electoral competition at the state level does not necessarily have to translate into permanent political confrontation at the national level.
Technology Improves Transparency
One of the major strengths of the Osun election was the use of technology.

The uploading of polling-unit results to IReV provided political parties, observers, journalists and citizens with an additional mechanism for monitoring the process.

At one point during collation, INEC had uploaded 98.35 per cent of the expected polling-unit results, representing a significant level of electoral visibility.

However, the process also exposed the importance of communication.
Questions were raised during collation over the pace of result uploads, with some observers questioning why the first batch of results appeared to have been uploaded faster than subsequent results.
Whether such delays were technical or administrative, the lesson for INEC is clear: unexplained gaps create room for speculation.

In an environment where social media can quickly transform uncertainty into allegations of manipulation, INEC must communicate proactively and continuously.
Silence, particularly during result collation, creates an information vacuum that political actors can easily fill.
Logistics Remain a Major Weakness
Despite the positive assessment, the late arrival of sensitive electoral materials exposed continuing weaknesses in INEC’s logistics.

Following the reprinting of ballot papers and result sheets, the materials reportedly arrived in Osogbo late on Thursday, August 13, only two days before the election.

While the correction may have been necessary, the development raised questions about the resilience of INEC’s electoral supply chain when unexpected circumstances occur shortly before polling.
Political parties also complained about the uneven arrival of electoral officials in some locations.

Such complaints should neither automatically be interpreted as evidence of deliberate manipulation nor dismissed because they originate from partisan actors.

The appropriate response is verification.

INEC should be able to explain where officials arrived late, the reasons for the delays, the effect on voting and the corrective measures taken.

Such information is essential for building institutional memory ahead of the 2027 general election.
Vote-Buying: The Biggest Threat
If there is one major issue that continues to expose the limitations of Nigeria’s electoral reforms, it is vote-buying.

Technology can improve voter accreditation. BVAS can strengthen voter verification. IReV can improve result transparency. But none of these systems can prevent a voter from accepting money before casting a ballot.

YIAGA Africa said its assessment found that the official results were consistent with its independent estimates, but raised concerns over reports of widespread vote-buying and its implications for the integrity of voters’ choices.

This presents a challenge that goes beyond INEC.

The electoral commission cannot prosecute every electoral offence, but it can strengthen documentation, publish data on reported violations and improve its referral mechanisms with law-enforcement agencies.

An election cannot be considered fully credible merely because votes were properly counted.

The deeper question is whether voters were sufficiently free to make their choices without intimidation, coercion or financial inducement.
Citizens Emerge as Key Stakeholders
Perhaps the most important lesson from Osun is that electoral integrity is not solely the responsibility of INEC, political parties and security agencies.
Citizens themselves are increasingly becoming part of Nigeria’s electoral infrastructure.

YIAGA Africa reported that voters remained at polling units and followed the process through ward and local government collation centres. It described voter vigilance as one of the most effective deterrents to result manipulation during the election.
Party agents monitored results.

Civil society groups deployed observers. Journalists followed developments. Citizens monitored figures, while technology provided additional visibility.
This combination strengthens electoral resilience.

INEC cannot manufacture such civic participation alone, but it can encourage it through sustained voter education, stakeholder engagement and greater transparency.

Osun Is a Rehearsal for 2027

The significance of the Osun election extends beyond the state.

The 2027 general election will involve a much larger electorate, more candidates, more polling units and substantially greater political stakes.

Amupitan’s INEC therefore cannot simply reproduce the Osun model. It must improve upon it.

The commission should conduct a comprehensive post-election audit covering logistics, BVAS performance, IReV uploads, personnel deployment, security coordination, voter education, accessibility and the handling of complaints.

The findings should be made public.
Where BVAS performed effectively, INEC should identify the factors responsible.

Where officials arrived late, the causes should be established. Where technological glitches occurred, they should be documented and addressed.

Where vote-buying was reported, evidence should be preserved and referred to the appropriate authorities.

Communities that helped protect the process should also be incorporated into INEC’s civic-engagement strategy.

The Verdict on Amupitan’s INEC
The Osun election does not make Amupitan’s INEC flawless.

But it has moved the commission beyond the stage of promises into the more difficult territory of measurable performance.

The election was competitive. Voting was largely peaceful. BVAS and electronic result management provided greater visibility. Civil society observers offered broadly positive assessments, while the declared winner received congratulations from political opponents and the President.
Most importantly, the immediate post-election atmosphere has so far been one of celebration, disappointment and political calculation rather than widespread disorder.
Those are meaningful achievements.

Yet the weaknesses are equally significant.
Logistical pressures remain. Vote-buying continues to threaten the integrity of voter choice. BVAS requires further improvement in some areas, while INEC’s communication around result uploads must become more proactive.

Technology alone cannot eliminate the political incentives that have historically encouraged electoral malpractice.

Osun should therefore neither be presented as proof that Nigeria has achieved a perfect electoral system nor dismissed as another flawed election.It should be treated as evidence.

Evidence that INEC can improve. Evidence that technology can strengthen transparency.

Evidence that citizens can protect their votes. Evidence that political opponents can accept defeat without immediately destabilising the system.

For Amupitan, however, the real verdict will come in 2027.

Osun has provided a template. The challenge now is to consolidate its strengths, eliminate its weaknesses and ensure that what worked in one state can withstand the far greater pressures of a national election.

The ultimate measure of Amupitan’s tenure will not be whether he conducted one peaceful governorship election.

It will be whether he can help build an electoral system in which Nigerians increasingly believe their votes matter, political parties believe the rules are fairly applied, losing candidates can accept credible outcomes and winners understand that electoral victory comes with the responsibility to govern all citizens.

Adeleke has won Osun. But the larger test belongs to INEC — and for Amupitan, the real electoral examination may have only just begun” Ajuluchukwu Brown noted.