Yiaga Africa has raised concerns about the preparedness of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) ahead of the June 20 governorship election in Ekiti state.
The election will be the first governorship poll conducted under the Electoral Act 2026.
Speaking at a press conference in Ado-Ekiti on Thursday, the election observation group described the poll as a critical test of preparedness, transparency and public trust.
According to Yiaga Africa, the election will also test the implementation of key provisions of the new electoral law, including electronic transmission of results, administrative review and result collation.
The group noted that INEC has introduced a results validation process through the electronic EC8A form.
Under the process, polling officials will enter figures from physical result sheets directly into the BVAS device.
Yiaga Africa said the innovation could improve transparency if properly implemented.
“This allows polling officials to directly impute results data from the hard copy result sheet into the BVAS,” the group said.
“If properly implemented, this innovation could strengthen the integrity of the transmission process.”
VOTING BREAKDOWN
According to INEC, the election will hold in 2,445 polling units across Ekiti state’s 16 local government areas.
A total of 1,059,360 registered voters are expected to participate.
The electoral commission also said PVC collection has reached 97.1 percent.
Meanwhile, 13 political parties have fielded candidates for the election.
Yiaga Africa expressed concern over the absence of female candidates and candidates living with disabilities.
The group said the development highlights the continued exclusion of certain groups from Nigeria’s electoral process.
“None of the parties fielded a female candidate and no candidate publicly identifies as a person with disability,” the statement said.
“This raises serious concerns about the persistence of exclusion in political recruitment and candidate nomination.”
Yiaga Africa said the election comes barely seven months before the 2027 general election and two months before the Osun governorship election.
Consequently, it described the poll as a major test of INEC’s operational readiness and the commitment of security agencies to electoral integrity.
The group acknowledged INEC’s efforts, including stakeholder engagements, training of election officials, mock accreditation exercises and logistics preparations.
However, it said the mock accreditation exercise exposed gaps in the implementation of some provisions of the Electoral Act 2026 and the electoral guidelines.
Yiaga Africa urged INEC to ensure timely deployment of personnel and election materials.
The group also called for the effective use of BVAS devices and transparent transmission of election results.
Furthermore, it urged security agencies to remain neutral and professional throughout the election.
According to the organisation, the credibility of the poll will depend on transparent election-day operations, proper results management and citizens’ confidence that their votes will count.
“What happens in Ekiti will not remain confined to the state,” the group said.
“It will shape public perception of INEC’s preparedness and set the tone for subsequent elections.”
