Yiaga Africa has called for a comprehensive technical audit of the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) and stronger security coordination ahead of Nigeria’s 2027 general Elections, following its observation of the 2026 Osun State governorship election.
The civil society organisation presented its recommendations on Sunday in Osogbo through its Process and Results Verification Statement, delivered by Dr Asmau Maikudi, chair of the 2026 Osun Election Observation Mission. Dr Maikudi, alongside Yiaga Africa Executive Director Samson Itodo, commended voters in Osun for their resilience and turnout during the August 15 governorship poll, urging citizens to continue holding political parties and candidates accountable for campaign promises.
Central to the recommendations is a demand for the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to issue binding, uniform guidance to presiding officers on the acceptance and use of downloadable Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) for accreditation. Yiaga Africa also urged the commission to conduct a full post-election technical audit of BVAS devices to identify the root causes of failures, strengthen device testing and maintenance, and establish rapid technical support structures before the next general election.
The organisation further asked INEC to publish the causes of biometric authentication failures recorded during accreditation and outline specific remedial measures. Improved training and supervision of ad hoc election officials was highlighted as essential to ensure consistent application of election-day procedures across polling units.
On security, Yiaga Africa recommended a review of deployment arrangements to guarantee the joint movement of security personnel, election officials, and sensitive materials from Registration Area Centres (RACs) to polling units. The Nigeria Police Force was specifically urged to publish a detailed report on its deployment during the Osun election, including the number of arrests made and plans for prosecution. “This is important in ensuring perpetrators of violence that led to the death of citizens in the pre-election phase are properly prosecuted,” the statement read.
Political parties were advised to invest in systematic training of polling agents on the Electoral Act 2026, INEC regulations, and voter education. Yiaga Africa also called on security agencies, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), and the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) to extend enforcement against vote buying beyond polling unit precincts. “Security agencies, the EFCC and the ICPC should extend enforcement beyond the polling unit precinct to the surrounding spaces where inducement now takes place, and should arrest and prosecute offenders, including party financiers and agents,” the organisation stated.
The observation mission deployed 300 stationary observers, 32 mobile observers, and 30 Local Government Area results collation observers across all 30 LGAs. Findings were based on reports from 289 of the 300 sampled polling units, representing 96 per cent coverage. Yiaga Africa said the official results announced by INEC were consistent with its statistical estimates, confirming the accuracy of polling-unit result tabulation. However, the organisation stressed that this validation did not eliminate concerns over reported vote buying and voter inducement. INEC’s official turnout figure of 43 per cent fell within Yiaga Africa’s estimated range of 42.5 to 44.8 per cent.
The recommendations underscore persistent challenges in Nigeria’s electoral infrastructure and enforcement mechanisms, with implications for the credibility of future polls. As stakeholders digest the findings, attention will turn to whether INEC and security agencies adopt the proposed reforms before the 2027 electoral cycle.
