With barely weeks to the August 15 governorship election in Osun State, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and the Ooni of Ife, Oba Enitan Ogunwusi, have raised fresh concerns over escalating political tension, warning that violence, misinformation and electoral malpractice must not be allowed to undermine the democratic process.
The caution came on Tuesday as INEC Chairman, Prof. Joash Amupitan, SAN, flagged off a five-day operational assessment of the election with a courtesy visit to the Ooni’s palace in Ile-Ife.
The election will involve 2,339,233 registered voters across 3,763 polling units, 332 registration areas and the state’s 30 local government areas.
Receiving the INEC delegation, the Ooni disclosed that traditional rulers across Osun had become increasingly worried by the political climate, revealing that they had held extensive consultations on the situation before the electoral commission’s visit.
Describing the growing tension as disturbing, the monarch urged INEC to discharge its constitutional responsibility with fairness and firmness to ensure that the election remains peaceful, credible and acceptable to all stakeholders.
Amupitan, who was accompanied by National Commissioners, the Osun Resident Electoral Commissioner and other senior officials of the commission, appealed to traditional rulers to prevail on political actors and their supporters to shun violence and inflammatory conduct capable of disrupting the poll.
“No political ambition is worth the life of any Nigerian,” the INEC chairman declared.
“The blood of one innocent person is not worth a governorship election. Nobody should be killed or threatened or embarrassed because of an election,”
Amupitan described the Osun governorship election as one of the commission’s most important off-cycle elections, saying it would provide valuable operational lessons ahead of the 2027 general elections.
According to him, the exercise will test INEC’s logistics, technology and stakeholder engagement strategies before the nationwide polls.
He said the choice of commencing the readiness tour in Ile-Ife was deliberate, noting that traditional institutions remain indispensable partners in promoting peaceful elections and democratic stability.
The INEC chairman described Ile-Ife as the cradle of Yoruba civilisation and a historic symbol of unity and peace.
Beyond physical security, Amupitan warned that digital manipulation posed a new danger to electoral integrity.
He expressed concern that artificial intelligence could be deployed to fabricate election results and spread disinformation capable of misleading voters and creating unnecessary tension.
He urged political parties, candidates and the electorate to disregard unofficial election information and rely solely on verified updates from INEC.
The chairman also reiterated the commission’s resolve to combat vote-buying and other electoral offences, warning that such practices threaten public confidence in democracy.
He assured voters that the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) would be fully deployed, stressing that only duly accredited voters would be allowed to vote and that no vote would count without proper accreditation.
Responding, the Ooni commended the leadership of the electoral commission but said traditional rulers remained deeply concerned about the rising political temperature across the state.
He urged INEC to maintain absolute neutrality and provide every contestant with a level playing field, stressing that the credibility of the election would depend largely on the commission’s fairness and professionalism.
The monarch also appealed to political parties to embrace peaceful campaigns and place the collective interest of Osun above partisan considerations.
Amupitan noted that since assuming office, the commission had successfully conducted elections in Anambra, Ekiti and the Federal Capital Territory Area Councils, as well as several by-elections across the country, saying those experiences would further strengthen preparations for the Osun governorship election.
At the end of the visit, the Ooni presented the INEC chairman with an acrylic bronze artwork preserved in the palace as a symbol of goodwill and enduring friendship.
The visit marked the beginning of the commission’s five-day readiness tour, during which it will meet political parties, security agencies, traditional institutions and other critical stakeholders, ahead of an expanded stakeholders’ meeting and the signing of a peace accord by governorship candidates.
For INEC, the August 15 governorship election is more than another off-cycle poll. It is a litmus test of the commission’s operational readiness, the resilience of Nigeria’s electoral system and the willingness of political actors to pursue power through ballots rather than violence as the country inches towards the pivotal 2027 general elections.
