By Law Ibitoye
Election observer group, Yiaga Africa, has affirmed that the official results of the June 20, 2026 Ekiti State governorship election announced by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) accurately reflected ballots counted at polling units across the state. The organisation, however, expressed concerns over widespread reports of vote buying, voter inducement and inconsistencies in voter turnout computation.
Presenting the Process and Results Verification for Transparency (PRVT) statement in Ado Ekiti on Sunday, Chair of the 2026 Ekiti Election Observation Mission, Dr. Aisha Abdullahi, said Yiaga Africa deployed 250 stationary observers, 22 mobile observers and 16 collation observers across the state’s 16 local government areas to independently verify the election process and results. According to her, reports from 99 per cent of sampled polling units showed that INEC’s official results fell within the organisation’s statistical estimates.
Yiaga Africa’s analysis projected that the All Progressives Congress (APC) would secure between 83.9 and 87.1 per cent of votes, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) between 8.5 and 11.7 per cent, while the African Democratic Congress (ADC) was expected to receive between 2.9 and 4.1 per cent. The official results announced by INEC placed the APC at 85.0 per cent, PDP at 10.8 per cent and ADC at 3.4 per cent, all within the observer group’s estimated ranges.
The organisation commended improvements in election administration, noting early deployment of election officials and materials as well as the timely commencement of accreditation and voting. It reported that by 8:30 a.m., INEC officials had arrived at 99 per cent of polling units, while accreditation and voting had begun in 70 per cent of polling units, rising to 98 per cent by 9:30 a.m. Security agencies, particularly the Nigeria Police Force, were also praised for maintaining professionalism and ensuring a peaceful atmosphere throughout the election.
Despite the positive assessment, Yiaga Africa identified several operational challenges. It reported that the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) malfunctioned in 13 per cent of polling units before being fixed, while 10 per cent of polling units recorded cases where some voters were denied accreditation due to verification difficulties. The group also observed that in 14 per cent of polling units, voters presenting printed slips containing their details were accredited and allowed to vote without presenting permanent voter cards.
The observer group further noted concerns relating to ballot secrecy and results management. It said that at 17 per cent of polling units, it was possible to see how voters marked their ballots, while polling officials were crowded by voters in 11 per cent of locations. However, the counting process was largely transparent, with ballot papers openly displayed during counting in 98 per cent of polling units, while 89 per cent posted results publicly and 88 per cent successfully transmitted result forms to the INEC Result Viewing Portal (IReV).
Yiaga Africa also questioned the voter turnout figure announced by INEC, stating that its PRVT estimated turnout at between 34.1 and 38.2 per cent, compared with INEC’s official figure of 38.7 per cent. The organisation attributed the discrepancy to INEC’s use of 988,251 registered voters—the figure from the 2022 register—instead of the updated 2026 register of 1,059,360 voters. It urged INEC to clarify the inconsistency, strengthen quality assurance in election materials, improve implementation of the Electoral Act 2026, and work with security agencies to curb vote buying and other electoral offences ahead of future elections, including the 2027 general election.
