The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has assured stakeholders that the outcome of the 15 August Osun State governorship election will reflect the will of the people.
The commission also said the election would be conducted in line with the provisions of the Constitution and the Electoral Act.
The Osun Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC), Oluwatoyin Babalola, gave the assurance while responding to concerns raised at a multi-stakeholder roundtable on legal compliance and electoral integrity organised by the New Generation Girls and Women Development Initiative in Osogbo on Thursday.
Babalola said adherence to electoral laws remained the strongest safeguard against irregularities, assuring stakeholders that INEC was committed to conducting a free, fair, credible, transparent and inclusive election.
She said the commission would continue to discharge its constitutional responsibilities with professionalism, neutrality and integrity.
“Electoral integrity is measured not only by the credibility of election procedures but also by the conduct of stakeholders before, during and after the election. Compliance with the law remains the strongest statement against electoral discrepancy,” Babalola said.
She added that Nigeria had witnessed elections without subsequent petitions, stressing that INEC remained committed to organising polls that would reflect the choices of voters.
Earlier, the Executive Director of the New Generation Girls and Women Development Initiative and South-West Coordinator of the Youth Electoral Reform Project, Abimbola Aladejare-Salako, said the recent Ekiti governorship election exposed gaps in the implementation of the 2026 Electoral Act.
Aladejare-Salako said the roundtable was organised to review lessons from the Ekiti election and identify measures to improve credibility, transparency and inclusiveness ahead of the Osun governorship poll.
She noted that while the Ekiti election recorded improvements in some areas, it also revealed operational, legal and administrative challenges that required attention.
According to her, one of the major concerns was the failure to transmit election results electronically from polling units in many cases, despite the requirement under the Electoral Act.
She stressed that although the law provides alternative procedures where genuine communication challenges occur, such exceptions should not become the standard practice.
Aladejare-Salako said the Osun election presented an opportunity to ensure full compliance with electoral provisions while building on previous successes and addressing identified shortcomings.
She urged INEC and other election management bodies to make clear commitments on issues critical to electoral integrity, saying credible elections and active citizen participation remained essential to democratic development.
