Civil society organisation, Yiaga Africa, has expressed concerns over vote buying, security challenges and the implementation of Nigeria’s new Electoral Act 2026 ahead of Saturday’s Ekiti State governorship election.
The organisation, in a pre-election press statement released on Thursday in Ado-Ekiti, described the June 20 poll as a defining test of the country’s electoral reforms and a key indicator of the Independent National Electoral Commission’s (INEC) preparedness for the 2027 general elections.
Yiaga Africa noted that the election would be the first governorship poll conducted under the Electoral Act 2026, making it a significant opportunity to assess the effectiveness of new provisions on electronic transmission of results, administrative review and result collation.
According to the organisation, INEC’s introduction of the e-EC8A result validation process, which enables polling officials to input election results directly into the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS), has the potential to improve transparency by allowing electronic records to be compared with scanned copies uploaded to the INEC Result Viewing (IReV) portal.
The commission is expected to conduct the election across 2,445 polling units in the state’s 16 local government areas, with 1,059,360 registered voters eligible to participate. Yiaga Africa noted that the Permanent Voter Card collection rate stands at 97.1 per cent.
The group also observed that while 13 political parties are participating in the election, none fielded a female candidate or a candidate who publicly identifies as a person with disability, describing the situation as evidence of continued exclusion in Nigeria’s political process.
Although it commended INEC for stakeholder engagements, personnel training, mock accreditation exercises and logistics preparations despite delayed election funding, Yiaga Africa said gaps observed during the mock accreditation exercise showed that improvements were still needed before election day.
It urged the electoral commission to ensure the timely deployment of election materials and personnel, proper activation of Registration Area Centres, effective use of BVAS for voter accreditation and transparent management and transmission of election results.
On security, the organisation acknowledged the efforts of security agencies through the Inter-Agency Consultative Committee on Election Security but warned that concerns remain in identified flashpoint local government areas, including Ado-Ekiti, Ikole, Oye and Ikere.
It also raised concerns about the movement of election officials, observers and election materials during result collation in Ilejemeje and Moba local government areas due to recent kidnapping incidents that could affect public confidence and safe movement, particularly after 7 p.m.
Yiaga Africa identified vote buying as one of the greatest threats to the credibility of the election, warning that worsening economic hardship could make financially vulnerable voters more susceptible to inducement by political actors.
The organisation further cautioned that voter turnout could be lower than expected because many residents perceive the contest as lacking genuine competition despite high political awareness among women, youths and persons with disabilities.
Yiaga Africa said the credibility of the election would ultimately depend on three critical tests: INEC’s operational preparedness, transparency in implementing the new electoral framework, and the neutrality of security agencies.
The organisation announced that it would deploy its Watching the Vote election observation mission, including 250 stationary observers and 22 mobile observers across the state. It will also deploy its Election Result Analysis Dashboard (ERAD 2.0), an AI-assisted system designed to independently verify polling unit results published on the IReV portal and monitor the integrity of electronic result transmission.
Among its recommendations, Yiaga Africa urged INEC to sustain transparency and professionalism throughout the electoral process, called on security agencies to remain neutral and guarantee the safety of all election stakeholders, and appealed to anti-corruption agencies to identify, arrest and prosecute individuals involved in vote buying.
It also urged political parties to publicly reject vote buying while encouraging voters to resist inducement and protect the value of their votes through peaceful participation in the electoral process.
