Yiaga Africa has said technology and active citizen participation strengthened electoral integrity during the 2026 Osun State governorship election. It also said the performance of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), security agencies and voters largely supported a transparent electoral process. Yiaga Africa made the assessment in its preliminary Process and Results Verification for Transparency (PRVT) statement on the election conducted on August 15, 2026. In the statement, the organisation said its findings were based on reports from 289 of 300 sampled polling units, representing 96 per cent of its sample across the state. It deployed 300 observers, 32 mobile observers and 30 Local Government Area results collation observers across Osun’s 30 LGAs to monitor accreditation, voting, counting, collation and results transmission. According to Yiaga Africa, the Osun election represented an important test of electoral administration because it was the last major governorship election before the 2027 general elections and one of the earliest major tests of the Electoral Act 2026 and the new regulatory framework for election administration and results management. The organisation said INEC and security agencies “largely passed that test”, particularly in logistics, technology deployment and the management of the voting process. Yiaga Africa said electoral technology performed substantially well despite some implementation challenges. It reported that the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) functioned properly in 80 per cent of the polling units observed. In the remaining 20 per cent, observers recorded malfunctions that were subsequently resolved. ”The widespread technological breakdowns feared following challenges observed during the mock accreditation did not materialize at a scale capable of undermining the election,” Yiaga Africa said. However, the organisation noted that BVAS failed to authenticate the fingerprints or facial biometrics of some voters, particularly elderly voters. It said 11 per cent of polling units recorded cases where voters whose Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) had been successfully verified were denied accreditation because the BVAS could not authenticate their fingerprints or facial biometrics. The election also marked the use of downloadable PVCs under the Electoral Act 2026. Yiaga Africa said observers saw voters present downloadable copies of their PVCs in 23 per cent of polling units. While most voters presenting the downloadable PVCs were accredited, observers reported that some voters were denied accreditation in seven per cent of the affected polling units. Yiaga Africa said it received a verified report from one polling unit where all voters who presented downloadable PVCs were denied accreditation. The organisation therefore urged INEC to issue uniform and binding guidance to presiding officers on the acceptance and use of downloadable PVCs. Yiaga Africa also credited the INEC Result Viewing Portal (IReV) with strengthening transparency in the results-management process. It said presiding officers used BVAS to scan or take snapshots of Form EC8A and transmit the results to IReV in 85 per cent of the polling units observed. In addition, 87 per cent of polling units transferred results from the validated Form EC8A to the electronic EC8A on the BVAS. The organisation said 99 per cent of polling officials showed those present how every ballot paper was marked, while 91 per cent of polling units posted official results for public viewing. The civil society organisation said its independent statistical analysis also found consistency between INEC’s official results and its PRVT estimates. Based on reports from 96 per cent of its sampled polling units, Yiaga Africa estimated that Accord would secure between 50.3 per cent and 54.0 per cent of the vote, while ADC would obtain between 1.4 per cent and 2.1 per cent and APC between 43.0 per cent and 46.8 per cent. INEC’s official results put Accord at 51.9 per cent, ADC at 1.7 per cent and APC at 45.2 per cent. Yiaga Africa said the official figures fell within its estimated ranges. ”The consistency of the results therefore speaks specifically to the accuracy of the tabulation of polling-unit results,” it said. However, it warned that widespread reports of vote buying and voter inducement continued to threaten the integrity of voter choice. The organisation stressed that the consistency between its estimates and INEC’s figures showed that the polling-unit results were accurately reflected in the official figures, but did not eliminate concerns about inducement.
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