The European Union Support to Democratic Governance in Nigeria Election Observation Hub, EU SDGN EOH, has called on the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, to ensure a transparent electoral process and effective deployment of personnel ahead of Saturday’s Osun State governorship election.
The EU election observers made the recommendations in a pre election statement presented during a press conference on Friday.
Jake Epelle of TAF Africa and Brenda Anugwom, Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian Women Trust Fund, NWTF, made the recommendations on behalf of the EU SDGN EOH.
The observers urged INEC to ensure that sensitive election materials are delivered to all polling units on time to enable accreditation and voting to begin by 8:30 am.
They also called on the commission to guarantee seamless electronic transmission of validated polling unit results to the INEC Result Viewing Portal, IReV, in real time, while maintaining adequate backup capacity for the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System, BVAS.
The observers further urged INEC to publish a clear protocol explaining the entire results transmission process, including the purpose of the electronic EC8A and the backend validation stage before results are published on IReV.
They also demanded that Ward EC8B and Local Government EC8C collation result sheets be published on IReV alongside polling unit results.
“This would enable citizens, political parties and observers to verify results at every stage,” they stated.
The EU observers urged INEC to ensure the transparent and timely announcement of results from polling units through Registration Areas and Local Government Areas to the State Collation Centre.
They also called for the deployment of trained electoral personnel and adequate assistive voting devices to facilitate priority voting for women, youths, persons with disabilities and other vulnerable groups.
On political parties and candidates, the observers urged all participants to respect the July 30, 2026 Peace Accord and accept the election results as declared by INEC.
They stressed that any grievances arising from the election should be pursued through lawful and judicial channels rather than through protests, violence or self help.
“Political parties should refrain from vote buying, voter intimidation and deployment of political thugs,” they added.
The observers also called on security agencies to remain neutral and professional throughout the election, while deploying sufficient personnel to critical and high risk areas and securing transport routes, polling units and collation centres ahead of voting.
They urged stronger coordination among security agencies through the Inter Agency Consultative Committee on Election Security, ICCES, to ensure rapid and impartial responses to electoral violence, harassment and disruptions.
The EU observers further demanded public disclosure of progress on pending investigations into electoral violence, including arrests, charges and court dates.
According to them, such disclosure would strengthen deterrence and demonstrate that impunity would not be tolerated.
They also urged the media to “verify information before publication, avoid amplifying fake news and refrain from broadcasting unofficial election results until they are declared by INEC at the appropriate collation level”.
The observers called on voters to arrive early at polling units, vote freely and independently, reject financial and material inducements, and report vote buying or other electoral malpractice to INEC officials, security agencies or accredited observers.
The EU SDGN EOH said its recommendations were aimed at supporting a free, fair, peaceful and credible governorship election in Osun State.
It urged all stakeholders to uphold their responsibilities throughout the voting, collation and declaration processes.
