Moses Ofodeme
The Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Joash Amupitan, SAN, on Tuesday, 28th July 2026, paid a courtesy visit to the palace of His Imperial Majesty, Oba Enitan Ogunwusi, the Ooni of Ife, as his first point of call on arrival in Osun State for a five-day readiness assessment ahead of the August 15, 2026 governorship election.
The INEC Chairman who led a team of National Commissioners, Resident Electoral Commissioner(REC) Osun State and other senior management staff to the palace, was received by royal fathers drawn from across the state, who had gathered to welcome him and his entourage.
He described Ile-Ife as the ancestral cradle of the Yoruba people and a historical beacon of peace and cultural unity in Nigeria, noting that the visit was both a cultural obligation and an institutional duty.
Prof. Amupitan explained that INEC, as a creation of the Constitution, is empowered to conduct elections into the offices of the President, Vice President, Governors, Deputy Governors, the National and State Assemblies, as well as to register and deregister political parties, conduct referenda, and register voters nationwide.
He formally announced to the monarch that the Osun State governorship election, an off-cycle poll, would hold on August 15, 2026, adding that the general election would follow on January 16, 2027, while governorship and state assembly elections in other states would take place on February 6, 2027.
He noted that the visit to the palace, ahead of any other engagement in the state, was deliberate, stressing that the Commission opted to travel by road rather than fly directly into Osun in order to begin its stakeholder engagements at the palace.
The INEC Chairman recalled that since assuming office nine months ago, he had conducted major elections in Anambra, the Federal Capital Territory Area Council and Ekiti States, alongside by-elections in about eleven states, including Enugu, Rivers and Nasarawa.
He described the Osun Election as a critical dress rehearsal for the 2027 general election, given its proximity to the national exercise, and disclosed that the state has 2,339,233 registered voters spread across 3,763 polling units in 332 registration areas within the 30 local government areas of the state.
Prof. Amupitan appealed to the Ooni and other traditional rulers present to use their influence to caution political actors against violence, describing elections as successful only when they are peaceful, transparent, and concluded on time. He stressed that the election should be devoid of rancour and should not be treated as a do-or-die affair, urging the traditional rulers to appeal to the political class and their supporters to embrace peace.
“The blood of one innocent person is not worth a governorship election. Nobody should be killed or should be threatened or should be embarrassed just because of election,” he said.
He warned against the growing threat of misinformation and disinformation, including the risk of artificial intelligence being deployed to fabricate false results, and cautioned against vote-buying and other electoral vices.
He further assured that the Commission’s Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) would be deployed for the election, stressing that no vote would be counted without proper accreditation.
Responding, the Ooni of Ife, speaking on behalf of the traditional rulers in attendance, commended Prof. Amupitan’s leadership, describing him as competent and worthy of the office. He, however, disclosed that rising political tension in Osun State had dominated hours of deliberation among the traditional rulers prior to the Chairman’s arrival, describing the situation as worrisome and unbearable.
The monarch charged Prof. Amupitan to rise to the occasion as a just and fair umpire, noting that the responsibility of ensuring a free and credible election rested squarely on the Commission, as the government had provided every necessary support for INEC to discharge its duties independently. He appealed to the Chairman to douse the prevailing tension and ensure that politicians and their supporters embraced peace ahead of the poll.
At the end of the visit, the Ooni presented the INEC Chairman with an acrylic artwork made of bronze, which he said had been preserved in the palace for over ten thousand years, as a symbol of goodwill.
The visit forms part of activities marking Prof. Amupitan’s five-day stay in Osun State, during which he is expected to hold an Expanded Stakeholders’ Meeting and witness the signing of a peace accord by political parties and candidates ahead of the governorship election.