By Ismail Azeez
The Chairman Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Joash Amupitan (SAN) has said the Commission is fully prepared for the August 15, Osun State Governorship election, assuring voters that robust technological, security and logistical measures have been put in place.
Speaking on Saturday during an interactive session with media at the INEC State Office in Osogbo, Amupitan said the Commission’s confidence followed the successful conduct of the statewide mock accreditation exercise, which tested the functionality of the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS).
The INEC Chairman announced that the Commission increased the number of BVAS devices for the election from 4,427 to 5,130 to cater for split polling units in areas including Ife East, Irewole, Egbedore, Ede North and Osogbo.
On security, the INEC chairman said the Commission had intensified collaboration with agencies under the Inter-Agency Consultative Committee on Election Security (ICCES) to safeguard voters, election officials and materials.
According to him, the Commission’s leadership, alongside National Commissioners, the Osun Resident Electoral Commissioner and senior officials, personally inspected the exercise across the state’s three senatorial districts to assess the performance of the accreditation technology.
“What we saw today confirms that our technological defence against identity theft and results manipulation is robust and fully operational. We did not want to speak to you from an air-conditioned boardroom in Abuja. We went to the theatres of operation to see for ourselves how our systems are holding up.”
“Stolen PVCs are functionally inert under our system architecture. Without the live biometric verification of the legitimate cardholder on the BVAS, a stolen card cannot accredit anyone to vote.”
“INEC is an independent, neutral and dispassionate umpire. We do not care who wins the election; we only care how they win.”
“The greatest threat we face is not technical failure, but the pathology of misinformation and disinformation.”
“INEC is ready. But we cannot do it alone. We seek your partnership in providing factual, balanced and timely reportage to counter fake news and voter apathy.”
“This election is a critical diagnostic milestone on our institutional roadmap toward the 2027 General Elections. Working together, INEC providing the transparent infrastructure and the Media providing the clear, objective narrative, we can give Nigeria an off-cycle election that will stand as a monument to democratic maturity,” he said.