INEC Chairman Amupitan Confirms Readiness for Osun Polls

Prof. Joash Amupitan, SAN, Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), announced the commission's full preparedness for the Osun state governorship election scheduled for 15 August 2026. This declaration followed a five-day readiness assessment tour, concluding with an interactive session with media executives in Osogbo.

During the tour, Amupitan led a team that included National Commissioners and the Resident Electoral Commissioner for Osun state, inspecting the mock Accreditation exercise across various polling units. He rated the BVAS technology's performance as satisfactory, noting that voter verification took between 30 seconds and two minutes.

In response to concerns from political parties, the total number of BVAS devices was increased from 4,427 to 5,130, with backup devices raised from 664 to 1,328. Amupitan emphasized the importance of stakeholder engagement and outlined security measures, including the identification of hotspots for specialized security deployment through the Inter-Agency Consultative Committee on Election Security (ICCES).