Yiaga Africa has commended Osun voters for their resilience during Saturday’s governorship election and called for improvements to the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System, BVAS, ahead of the 2027 general elections.
The election observation organisation also praised voters who remained at polling units to protect their votes and ensure the integrity of the electoral process.
Speaking during the presentation of its post-election report in Osogbo, Chairperson of Yiaga Africa, Dr Asmau Maikudi, said the election showed that the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, could meet high operational standards when properly resourced and monitored.
She, however, urged INEC to apply the lessons from the Osun election across the country, saying the agency must be prepared to deliver the same standard across the 176,000 polling units expected to be involved in the 2027 general elections.
Maikudi called for a comprehensive technical audit of BVAS devices to identify the causes of failures recorded during accreditation.
She also urged INEC to publish the causes of biometric authentication failures and outline measures to prevent similar problems in future elections.
On security, Yiaga Africa called for a review of the deployment strategy ahead of 2027, including stronger coordination between security personnel, polling officials and election materials.
The organisation also urged security agencies, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission and the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission to intensify efforts against vote buying, including in areas surrounding polling units.
Yiaga Africa further called on political parties to train their polling agents on the Electoral Act, INEC guidelines and voter education ahead of the 2027 general elections.
Comments
Add a comment