The Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) has released its official report on the 2026 Osun State Governorship Election, commending the peaceful conduct of the exercise while calling on the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to undertake a comprehensive review of the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS).
According to the Nigerian Bar Association, the report followed the deployment of its Election Observation Group to monitor the governorship election held on Saturday, August 15, 2026, as part of the Association’s commitment to promoting democracy, constitutionalism, the rule of law, human rights and credible electoral processes.
The observation mission was led by the Chairman of the NBA Election Working Group, Mr. Festus Okoye, alongside the NBA General Secretary, Dr. Mobolaji Ojibara, who coordinated observations across selected polling locations in the state.
The Association commended voters, officials of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), security personnel, political parties, candidates, party agents, civil society organisations and other stakeholders for contributing to what it described as a generally peaceful and orderly election.
The report noted the timely deployment of election officials and materials in most of the areas observed, the visible presence of security personnel and party agents, encouraging voter turnout and the absence of major security incidents throughout the exercise.
Despite the positive assessment, the NBA identified recurring operational challenges with the BVAS, including slow voter accreditation, fingerprint and facial recognition difficulties, temporary equipment malfunctions and challenges encountered by some elderly voters during the accreditation process.
The Association stressed that these issues require urgent attention to improve the reliability, accessibility and efficiency of election technology in future polls.
Consequently, the NBA urged INEC to conduct a comprehensive post-election review, particularly focusing on the performance of the BVAS, with a view to addressing identified shortcomings and strengthening future electoral processes.
The Association also announced that the full report of the NBA Election Working Group has been made available for public access and detailed consideration.
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