Despite the commendations the Independent National Electoral Commission received for its performance in the Osun State governorship election, the poll offers it an opportunity to address the obvious shortcomings ahead of the 2027 general election, Davidson Iriekpen writes
The Osun State governorship election may have come and gone, but it offered the electoral umpire, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), an opportunity to test its systems and logistics ahead of the 2027 general election.
As Nigerians anxiously await the 2027 elections, they would not want to experience the late arrival of electoral officials at polling units, the failure of the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS), and the refusal to upload the Form EC8A result sheets on the Result Viewing portal (IReV).
Recall that INEC had declared the incumbent, Governor Ademola Adeleke of the Accord Party (AP), the winner, having polled 511,067 votes to defeat his closest rival, Bola Oyebamiji of the All Progressives Congress (APC), who scored 444,815 votes.
Though the relatively peaceful conduct of the election and the acceptance of the result by major stakeholders attracted commendation for INEC, the Nigeria Police Force and other security agencies, assessments of the poll by observers also revealed that the commission still has work to do, particularly in the areas of technology, logistics and voter access to casting their votes.
