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General Category => SpyLoaded News => Topic started by: Morayo on June 30, 2026, 04:44:45 PM
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INEC seeks stronger media collaboration to ensure credible Osun Governorship Election, Urges Osun journalists to expose vote buying ahead of August 15 Governorship Election.
In advance of the August 15, 2026, governorship election, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has charged media professionals in Osun State with treating vote buying as a frontline investigative priority. Journalists are urged to record incidents with the specificity required to result in prosecution.
Malam Mohammed Kudu Haruna, National Commissioner and Chairman of the Information and Voter Education Committee (IVEC), made this known in a keynote speech at the One-Day Media Stakeholders' Forum on Tuesday, June 30, 2026, in Osogbo, Osun state.
Mrs. Oluwatoyin Babalola, Osun State Resident Electoral Commissioner, described the media as an indispensable partner of the Commission in promoting democratic values through objective reporting and public enlightenment, and urged continued collaboration to ensure a peaceful and credible election.
"Vote buying was the most concerning development to come out of the June 20, 2026 Ekiti State Governorship Election, according to the National Commissioner's keynote speech. He noted that political actors and their agents were widely reported to have offered cash to voters at polling places, sometimes using numbered vouchers that could be redeemed outside of polling places to avoid detection."
He cited Section 22 of the Electoral Act 2026, which prescribes a fine of not less than five million naira, imprisonment of up to two years, or both, alongside a ten-year disqualification from contesting public office, for persons convicted of vote trading.
The National Commissioner called on editors to assign dedicated resources to the issue before, during and after Election Day, and on reporters to capture names, locations, amounts and the structure of coordination in their investigations. He said such reporting would feed directly into an enforcement framework involving the Commission, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, the Nigeria Police Force and the State Security Service.
Speaking further, the National Commissioner disclosed that the Commission had concluded major pre-election preparations for Osun State, including the clearance of candidates from fourteen political parties, the enrolment of 381,817 new voters during the Continuous Voter Registration exercise, and arrangements to deploy the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) and the INEC Result Viewing Portal (IReV) across all 30 local government areas.
He referenced the performance of these technologies in Ekiti, where BVAS recorded a 96 percent functionality rate and IReV achieved a 98 percent result-upload completion rate, as a benchmark for the Osun exercise.
The National Commissioner also drew attention to declining voter turnout nationally, noting that accreditation in the Ekiti election covered fewer than four in every ten registered voters. He urged media organisations to deploy their reach toward voter mobilisation, alongside continued public enlightenment on the dangers of vote buying and the importance of result verification through IReV.