Ekiti 2026 election to test Nigeria’s new Electoral Act- Yiaga Africa

A leading election observation group, Yiaga Africa, has described Saturday’s governorship election in Ekiti State, as a critical test of Nigeria’s new Electoral Act 2026, warning that the credibility of the poll will depend on electoral preparedness, transparency in results management, and the neutrality of security agencies.

The organisation said this in a pre-election statement issued ahead of the June 20 governorship election, which will be conducted across 2,445 polling units in Ekiti State’s 16 local government areas.

Yiaga Africa noted that the election is the first governorship poll to be conducted under the Electoral Act 2026 and will serve as a major assessment of new provisions relating to electronic transmission of results, administrative review, and results collation.

It highlighted INEC’s introduction of the e-EC8A result validation process, which enables polling officials to enter polling unit results directly into the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System, BVAS, allowing verification against scanned copies uploaded to the INEC Result Viewing Portal, IReV.

According to the organisation, 1,059,360 registered voters are expected to participate in the election, with the Independent National Electoral Commission reporting a Permanent Voter Card collection rate of 97.1 per cent.

Thirteen political parties are fielding candidates in the contest. However, Yiaga Africa expressed concern over the absence of female candidates and persons with disabilities among the contestants, describing it as evidence of continued exclusion in Nigeria’s political recruitment and nomination processes.

While acknowledging INEC’s efforts in conducting stakeholder engagements, training election officials, organising mock accreditation exercises, and making logistics arrangements despite delayed funding, Yiaga Africa identified operational gaps that emerged during the mock accreditation exercise.

It urged the commission to ensure timely deployment of personnel and materials, effective activation of Registration Area Centres, proper use of BVAS for voter accreditation, and transparent management and transmission of election results.

On security, the organisation commended the Inter-Agency Consultative Committee on Election Security for coordinating election security preparations but warned of lingering concerns in some parts of the state.

It identified Ado-Ekiti, Ikole, Oye and Ikere local government areas as potential hotspots and expressed concern over the movement of election officials, observers and materials in Ilejemeje and Moba LGAs following recent kidnapping incidents that could affect safe movement, espect6ially after 7 p.m.

Yiaga Africa also raised concerns over the threat posed by vote buying, describing it as one of the most significant risks to the integrity of the election. It warned that prevailing economic hardship could make voters vulnerable to inducement by political actors seeking to influence electoral outcomes.

The group further noted that widespread perceptions that the election outcome is already predetermined could discourage voter participation and contribute to low turnout despite high political awareness among citizens.

The organisation identified what it called three major tests for the election: preparedness, transparency and neutrality. It explained that the preparedness test would assess INEC’s ability to deploy personnel and materials efficiently and ensure the functionality of electoral technology.

“The transparency test would evaluate compliance with the Electoral Act 2026, including the use of BVAS, e-EC8A result validation, electronic transmission of results and transparent collation processes. The neutrality test, according to Yiaga Africa, would focus on the conduct of security agencies and their ability to provide security without partisan interference or intimidation.

As part of its election observation efforts, Yiaga Africa said it would deploy its Watching The Vote methodology, comprising 250 stationary observers and 22 mobile observers across the state. The organisation will also utilise its Process and Results Verification for Transparency (PRVT) and Election Result Analysis Dashboard (ERAD 2.0) systems to independently verify election results and monitor the performance of IReV.

It urged INEC, security agencies, political parties, civil society organisations, traditional and religious leaders, and the media to work together to ensure a credible, peaceful and transparent election that will strengthen public confidence ahead of the 2027 general election.