Yiaga Africa urges EFCC, ICPC to tackle vote traders before Osun election

With the Osun State governorship election just 48 hours away, the civil society organization Yiaga Africa has called on Nigeria's anti-graft agencies to actively combat vote buying and selling.

Yiaga Africa urged the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) to coordinate efforts and make arrests of individuals involved in vote trading. "Yiaga Africa calls for better coordination with EFCC and ICPC in making arrests of political party leaders, agents and anyone attempting to buy votes before the election and on election day," stated Asmau Maikudi, Chairman of Yiaga Africa's 2026 Osun Election Observation Mission.

The group also raised concerns about the Independent National Electoral Commission's (INEC) readiness for the election, citing technical difficulties encountered during a recent mock accreditation exercise. Maikudi urged INEC to resolve outstanding issues with election technologies, particularly the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS), to prevent disenfranchisement and operational disruptions.

Furthermore, Yiaga Africa emphasized the need for INEC to strictly adhere to the Electoral Act and its regulations concerning results management. They also called for guaranteed unhindered access for accredited party agents, observers, and the media at all collation centers.

To ensure transparency, Yiaga Africa announced its "Watching The Vote" initiative. The group will deploy 300 stationary observers and 32 mobile observers across Osun State to independently verify the integrity of the election process, from ballot box to the results portal. They pledged to provide timely and accurate information and to expose any discrepancies between the official results and the ballots cast.

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Yiaga Africa calls for better coordination with EFCC and ICPC in making arrests of political party leaders, agents and anyone attempting to buy votes before the election and on election day.