Osun guber: Kukah Centre flags election violence risk areas

The Kukah Centre has identified 15 local government areas requiring heightened security attention ahead of the August Osun governorship poll.

This is as it intensified preparations for the election by deploying trained election observers across the state, while

The organisation disclosed this during a stakeholders’ engagement in Osogbo on Friday, where it presented its Political and Security Context Analysis under the National Peace Committee initiative.

According to the report, the centre has been monitoring political developments and security incidents across Osun, identifying organised political violence, institutional tensions, electoral offences and misinformation as key factors capable of disrupting the governorship election if not properly managed.

Project Manager of The Kukah Centre, Vicham Hajara Waziri, said the organisation had trained 45 field observers drawn from all 30 local government areas to strengthen election security monitoring before and during the poll.

She explained that local government areas assessed as more vulnerable would receive additional observers to improve the reporting of security developments and ensure prompt intervention where necessary.

Another Project Manager of the centre, Asabe Ndahi, presented findings from the Election Security Information Hub, revealing that 15 local government areas were categorised as either critical, high or moderate violence-risk zones.

Ndahi identified Osogbo and Irewole as the two local government areas classified under the critical risk category, while Iwo, Boripe, Ife Central and Ife East were listed among the high-risk areas.

She said “the assessment followed six weeks of field monitoring conducted by observers across the state, with information gathered on security incidents and emerging electoral threats.

“We are here to present the findings from our Election Security Information Hub and obtain feedback from stakeholders on measures they intend to implement as the election approaches.”

She added, “Our data indicates that about 15 local government areas fall within the critical, high and moderate risk categories. We have identified flashpoints and are engaging security agencies to reduce incidents and ensure voters can participate safely on election day.”

The engagement, supported by the European Union through the EU Support to Democratic Governance in Nigeria programme, brought together representatives of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission, ICPC, security agencies and other election stakeholders.

Participants at the meeting reaffirmed their commitment to peaceful elections and called on political parties, supporters and residents to reject violence, respect democratic principles and promote peaceful political competition throughout the August 15 governorship election process.

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