By Ismail Azeez
The Imole Campaign Council (TICC), the campaign organisation of Governor Ademola Adeleke, has called on the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to strengthen electoral safeguards ahead of the August 15 Osun State governorship election, citing what it described as 10 major concerns arising from recent off-cycle elections across the country.
Addressing journalists in Osogbo on Monday, the Director-General of the council, Senator Kamarudeen Oyewumi, said the concerns were based on reports by accredited election observers, findings of the council’s election surveillance team, publicly available evidence, and voters’ experiences during recent elections.
According to Oyewumi, the council reviewed the 2026 Federal Capital Territory Area Council election, the Ekiti State governorship election, and several bye-elections conducted in Enugu, Nasarawa, Ondo, Rivers, Kano, and Kebbi states, identifying issues it urged INEC to prevent during the Osun governorship poll.
He listed the concerns to include the alleged deployment of inadequate ballot papers and other sensitive election materials, challenges in the distribution of Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs), reports of already thumb-printed ballot papers, technical glitches associated with the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS), and alleged cases of voting without PVCs.
The council also expressed concern over reports that political parties without candidates allegedly appeared on ballot papers and result sheets during some recent elections, warning that such occurrences could undermine public confidence in the electoral process.
Oyewumi further cited reports by election observer groups, including Yiaga Africa and the Nigeria Civil Society Situation Room, which identified challenges such as vote-buying, BVAS-related accreditation issues, lapses in results management, and breaches of ballot secrecy in previous elections.
He urged INEC to deploy additional BVAS machines and election personnel to polling units with large numbers of registered voters to reduce delays and prevent voter disenfranchisement.
The campaign council also called on INEC and security agencies to investigate what it described as alleged claims by some leaders of the All Progressives Congress (APC) regarding the preloading of BVAS machines and the printing of extra result sheets ahead of the Osun governorship election.
Oyewumi further demanded transparency in the ongoing distribution of PVCs, insisting that all eligible voters, particularly those who registered or updated their records during the Continuous Voter Registration exercise, should be given unhindered access to collect their voter cards.
The campaign council maintained that the briefing was not intended to discredit INEC but to encourage improvements capable of enhancing the credibility of the election.
Oyewumi called on the electoral commission to address the identified concerns before election day and urged security agencies to remain neutral and professional throughout the electoral process.
He appealed to political parties and their supporters to conduct themselves peacefully, expressing confidence that the people of Osun deserve a free, fair, transparent, and credible governorship election that truly reflects the will of the electorate.
“No eligible voter should be denied the opportunity to participate in the election because of difficulties in obtaining a Permanent Voter Card,” he said.