The Executive Director, YIAGA Africa, Samson Itodo, has warned that any attempt to manipulate the results of the August 15 Osun State governorship election will be closely monitored and exposed by civil society organisations and the media.
He said this while speaking with ARISE NEWS on Friday.
“Any attempt to manipulate this process will be monitored and exposed by civil society organizations and the media,” he warned.
Itodo said the growing incidents of pre-election violence, including political abductions and killings, have heightened concerns over the security of the poll, stressing that the August 15 election will be a crucial test of Nigeria’s ability to deliver a peaceful and credible electoral process.
“When you look at the constellation of pre-election assessment reports, one thing is clear: this election is not just tense, but competitive. The pre-election violence building up to this election raises a huge source of concern. We are very concerned because of the levels of political abductions and killings—as you heard, 24 out of 44 incidents occurred from June last year until June this year,” he said.
“This is the last election before the 2027 general elections. In this election, election security will be put to the test. We urged them to ensure that the confidence of those in Osun and Nigerians is built using this opportunity,” he stressed.
He also disclosed that YIAGA Africa had called on President Bola Tinubu to warn security agencies against interfering in the election, stressing that any abuse of federal might could undermine the process and erode public confidence.
“Today, we also called on the President to, in the same vein, issue a strongly worded statement to the security agencies to allow the process to go normally and not interfere with the election—the same way he did for the EFCC. There are individuals who think that because they have access to federal might, they want to instrumentalize security agencies to undermine the elections. The President has a unique opportunity, and a strongly worded statement—calling on security agencies and warning those around him against abusing federal might—will instill the confidence people want to see,” he said.
Speaking on voter participation in the election, Itodo said security agencies must demonstrate neutrality and professionalism, stressing that their presence should reassure voters rather than intimidate them.
“There are two basic issues:Security Neutrality & Presence: Their first fear is that security agencies will not be neutral and will be participants in this. From the statement and body language of the IG—holding him accountable to his words—they are not a political party or participants; they are going to be professional. He has called on field officers at the tactical level to respect their code of conduct, noting there will be sanctions for any police officer who undermines or interferes with the process.
“This is an opportunity for confidence building. In previous elections where federal might was deployed to interfere with the process—especially collation—guaranteeing security builds trust. The IG also talked about massive deployment, which will be matched with public engagement, because a heavy security presence can also scare people,” he said.
Addressing the political tensions surrounding the election, Itodo said conflicting judicial pronouncements on local government leadership had significantly worsened the situation, creating competing power structures and fuelling unnecessary chaos across the state.
“It has impacted this election a great deal. Looking at local government administration, you clearly see challenges with managing that aspect of governance. When you have two different leadership structures—local government chairmen installed by the courts versus those evolved from democratically conducted local government elections—it creates friction. One section has the protection of security agencies while the other doesn’t; one operates from the local government secretariat while another operates elsewhere. It creates a lot of unnecessary chaos and demonstrates a disrespect for the rule of law, which is at the core of the tension in the state,” he explained.
On campaign issues, Itodo said candidates had largely failed to provide sufficient platforms for citizens to engage them on their policies, noting that campaign rallies had offered only limited insight into their programmes.
He expressed hope that the proposed candidates’ debate would provide an opportunity for voters to hear directly from the contenders, scrutinise their policies and ask questions about their plans for governing the state.
“The best we’ve heard about their programs is when they conduct rallies, though those rallies aren’t necessarily an opportunity for policy-related engagement. You hear droplets of their plans, but there hasn’t been a formal debate. We understand there was going to be one, but it was moved for security reasons. We hope that when this debate takes place, we will have the opportunity to hear the issues they stand for and give citizens a chance to ask questions about their plans. So far, it has mostly been the usual rhetoric heard on campaign grounds. While there are flyers and manifestos online, the opportunity for the public to engage constructively has been absent.”
Favour Odima
Follow us on:
