The Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, Prof. Joash Amupitan, SAN,has declared that INEC is fully prepared for the August 15 Osun State governorship election. He assured voters that the process will be free from violence and intimidation.Prof. Amupitan spoke on Saturday during a press briefing in Osogbo, after a five-day readiness assessment tour of the state. The tour followed a statewide mock accreditation carried out in selected polling units across the three senatorial districts.
According to him, the exercise was used to test the *Bimodal Voter Accreditation System, BVAS*, and it confirmed that INEC is both technologically and operationally ready. He said most voters were verified through facial recognition within seconds, and any technical issues noticed were quickly fixed by the commission’s ICT team.“
The mock accreditation is part of our quality control. What we observed shows that our system to prevent identity theft and result manipulation is strong and working effectively,” he stated.To boost efficiency on election day, Amupitan disclosed that INEC has increased BVAS devices from 4,427 to 5,130. Backup devices were also doubled from 664 to 1,328 to allow for quick replacement if any device fails.He added that 2,339,233 registered voters* are expected to vote in 3,763 polling units across 332 wards in 30 LGAs. Training for 16,374 ad hoc staff is also almost completed.
All 14 political parties contesting the election have also signed the Peace Accord facilitated by the National Peace Committee, he noted.On security, the INEC boss said the commission is working with the *Inter-Agency Consultative Committee on Election Security, ICCES*, to deploy personnel strategically to identified hotspots.
He said INEC is also collaborating with security agencies to curb vote buying and other electoral offences.As part of the readiness tour, Amupitan said INEC met with traditional rulers including the *Ooni of Ife* and the Ataoja of Osogbo, who promised to mobilize their people for peaceful voting. Meetings were also held with transport unions to finalize logistics, while inspections showed that non-sensitive materials have already been delivered to LG offices.The INEC chairman called on journalists to play a responsible role.
“I urge the media to verify facts before publishing and avoid spreading false information that can cause panic among voters,” he said.
