INEC Osun Commends Media Performance, Reviews 2026 Election And Sets Agenda for 2027 Polls
By Abisola Ariwodola,
The Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, in Osun State has commended the media for its role in ensuring peaceful coverage of the 2026 Governorship Election, while also reviewing the conduct of the poll and unveiling plans for the 2027 General Election.
The Resident Electoral Commissioner, REC, Mrs. Oluwatoyin Babalola, gave the commendation on Monday, November 9, 2026, during a media briefing in Osogbo. She said the professional reportage by media organisations before, during and after the August 15, 2026 election helped reduce political tension and sustain peace in the state.
Babalola said the 2026 governorship election recorded a voter turnout of 1,010,684 out of 2,339,233 registered voters, representing 43.2 percent. She attributed the outcome to early deployment of non-sensitive materials, voter education, intensive monitoring, timely funding and adequate security.
She noted that the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System, BVAS, functioned seamlessly across all 3,763 polling units in the 30 LGAs, with 87 percent of results uploaded to the INEC Result Viewing Portal, IReV, by 4:30pm on election day. She added that 94.5 percent of polling units opened between 6:00am and 8:30am.
On preparations for 2027, Babalola said nine of the 14 items on INEC’s timetable have been completed, including notice of election, party primaries and publication of candidate lists. The presidential and national assembly elections are scheduled for January 16, 2027, while governorship and state assembly elections will hold on February 6, 2027. The official register of voters will be published on December 15, 2026.
She said PVC collection has reached 81.74 percent with 1,910,937 cards collected, and that 5,763 BVAS will be deployed with 1,328 as back-up. The portal for ad-hoc staff recruitment is open and will close on November 18, 2026.
Babalola also said the media accreditation portal for 2027 was activated on October 30, 2026 and will close on December 1, 2026 at https://imap.inecnigeria.org. She added that monitoring of party campaigns and campaign finance has commenced, while distribution of polling agent tags and observer kits will follow.
She urged journalists to continue to provide accurate, timely and unbiased information and to support INEC’s voter education efforts ahead of 2027, assuring that the Commission remains committed to credible, transparent and inclusive elections.