Osun State 2022 governorship election observation report

MAP OF OSUN STATE

ABOUT OSUN STATE

• Osun state is in the southwestern part of Nigeria.
• It is bounded in the north by Kwara State, in the west by Oyo state, in the south by Ogun State, and in the east by Ekiti and parts of Ondo State.
• Its capital is Osogbo.
• It has a population of 3,423,535 based on the 2006 population census.
• Its indigenes are mostly of the Yoruba descent.
• It is home to the world-famous Ife kingdom, one of the ancestral homes of the Yoruba people . The kingdom is governed by the Ooni of Ile –Ife.

Picture above depicts the famous Oduduwa Shrine and Grove in the heart of Ile – Ife , Osun State.

• River Osun is an important geographical feature of the state, as it bisects its major interior parts.
• Agriculture is a major source of revenue for the Osun People.
• Pre – election , the Governor of the state was Adegboyega Oyetola of the All Progressives Congress (APC).

INEC PREPAREDNESS FOR THE ELECTION

• The Independent Electoral Commission(INEC), the official Nigerian electoral body announced the timetable for Osun elections on 16th June 2021.
• The 2021 amended Electoral act was adopted by INEC for the conduct of Osun polls.
• Prior to election day, INEC met with all the electoral stakeholders, including security forces, political parties, civil society groups, etc., to ensure that the election was credible, free and fair.
• To further ensure a peaceful outcome in the elections, on Wednesday, the 13th of July 2022 The National Peace Committee (NPC) , convened by Bishop Matthew Hassan Kukah, in conjunction with INEC facilitated the candidates’ signing of The Peace Accord.

Picture above depicts Senator Ademola Adeleke, candidate of the PDP signing The Peace Accord in the presence of the NPC (picture source : dailypost.ng)

• The Peace Accord is a binding document that ensures that all candidates take proactive steps “towards ensuring a conducive and peaceful environment for the conduct of a credible electoral process”.

ELECTION SUMMARY

• The 2022 Osun State Governorship Election was held on Saturday, the 16th of July 2022.
• According to INEC, there are 30 Local Government Areas (LGAs), 332 wards, 3,763 polling units and 1,952,387 registered voters in the state.
• As of July 16^th, 2022 , 1,518,303 (approximately 78%) PVCs were collected by the registered voters.
• To ensure accountability, and strengthen the electoral process, INEC accredited 79 Domestic, and 8 foreign Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) including The AID, to observe the election.
• The AID opted for a Short-Term Election Observation Project.
• The election was vigorously contested by 2 major candidates.
• The pre – election environment was fairly violent , but the election day environment was largely peaceful.
• On election day, citizens were allowed to exercise their right to vote; however, there were instances of electoral malpractice.
• Post collation of results by INEC, and its interpretation based on the electoral act, on the 17^th of July 2022, a new governor was elected.

THE CANDIDATES

• According to INEC, there were 15 candidates from 15 political parties for the Governorship election.
• All the governorship candidates were of the male gender, none was female.
• 9 male, and 6 female candidates ran for the deputy Governorship position.
• No Person With Disability (PWD) ran for either the governorship, or the deputy governorship position.
• The oldest candidate was 67, while the youngest candidate was 35 years old.
• The candidates’ highest educational qualification was Bachelor’s degree, while the lowest qualification was WAEC /NECO/GCE.
• Below is the profile/ statistics of all 15 candidates and their deputies.

• Of the 15 candidates that contested for the governorship election, the strong contenders were:

Name : Governor Adegboyega Isiaka Oyetola ;

Party : All Progressives Congress (APC) ;

Name : Senator Ademola Jackson Nurudeen Adeleke

Party : People’s Democratic Party (PDP)

DEPLOYMENT

• The AID observation team deployed to Osun state was led by Lady Ada Enemuoh.
• On the 14th of July 2022, The AID representatives attended INEC “Briefing of Accredited Observer Groups for the 2022 Osun Governorship Election” held in Osogbo, Osun State.
• At the event, INEC laid out the guiding principles of the mission. Observers had a chance to ask questions, interact with the commission officials, and pick up the supplies / kits needed on election day.

Pictures above show a section of The AID observers at the INEC briefing in Osogbo, Osun State

• Both roving and virtual observers were deployed to polling units across the state for the election.

Picture above depicts a section of The AID roving observers on the field.

On election day , three teams of The AID roving observers were deployed to the three senatorial zones of the state.

• The roving teams covered the following areas:

VOTER TURNOUT

• The ratio of the number of accredited voters to the number of registered voters in most polling units were low in the 2022 Osun Governorship Election.

For example : In polling unit 009, Ward 001, Ife – East LGA, out of the 1,386 registered voters, only 429 voters (30%) were accredited to vote. Also, in Polling unit 013, Ward 005, Osogbo LGA, of the 853 registered voters, only 200 voters (23%) were accredited.

• Post collation of result, the total number of accredited voters were 827,218, while the registered voters were 1,952,387.
• This data shows that only 24.16 % of Osun state’s 3,423,535 population; and 42.37% of its registered voters, voted in the election.
• The data also shows a 3% decline in the electorates’ participation in the democratic process because: during the 2018 Osun governorship election, about 45% of the then registered voters were accredited to vote, unlike the 42.37% accredited in 2022.
• The steady drop in the number of accredited voters must be reversed by increased voter sensitization, improved electoral practices, and quality leadership from elected officials.

POLLING UNITS

Opening and Closing times

• INEC required polling units to open and begin accreditation + voting at 8 a.m. ; and Vote Count at 2 p.m.
• Some polling units opened on time. Examples include Polling Unit 008, College/Egbeda Ward 3, Boripe LGA; and Polling Unit 002, Balogun Ward 2, Olorunda LGA. These polling units opened at 8.00am.
• However, most polling units did not open at 8.00am .
• Most polling units opened at, or after 8.30am. Examples include: Polling Unit 016, Alagba Ward 5 , Osogbo LGA, and Polling Unit 003, Osu III Ward 2, Atakunmosa West LGA. The presiding officers cited late activation of Registration Area Centers (RACs) / wards as the reason for the lateness.
• Voting ended earlier than 2pm in most polling units with less than 750 registered voters. Example include Polling Unit 015, Esa Oke Ward 7, Obokun LGA; with 149 registered voters. As at 11.15am when The AID roving observers arrived the polling unit, voting was already completed. The voters were seen hanging around, chatting, etc. and waiting for counting to begin at 2pm.
• Voting lasted up to 2pm, and in some cases, past 2pm in some polling units, especially those with more than

750 registered voters. Example include Polling Unit 013, Alagba Ward 5, Osogbo LGA with 853 registered voters. As at 2.11pm when The AID roving observers arrived the polling unit, voting was still ongoing.

Set Up and Personnel

• Most polling units were set up to conduct a free and fair election. INEC staff, party agents, observers, security personnel and voters were properly identified. They were allocated specific sitting / standing area to ease the election process.
• Sensitive voting materials like ballot boxes, voting booth, etc. were mostly placed in observable, strategic locations to guarantee the secrecy of the ballot. The set up at polling unit 004, Ward 002, Ilesa East LGA was a good example.
• However, the secrecy of the ballot was not guaranteed in some polling units. This is because, some party agents insisted on strategically standing either behind, or near voters casting their votes in the voting booth; in order to confirm that they were voting their party. An example of such scenario was observed at polling unit 010, ward 003, Boripe LGA.
• There were no campaigning in and around most polling units across the state. However, campaign materials were found in, and/ or less than 400 yards from some polling units. An example is shown below :

Picture above shows campaign poster found on the wall of Polling unit 013, Ijebu – Jesa Ward 3, Oriade LGA.

The polling unit set up did not guarantee secrecy of the ballot because the voting boot was placed under the multiple floor building where the 1st floor occupants could view the balloting.

• All polling units observed had security personnel to maintain law and order. However, some overcrowded polling units had the same number of security personnel with undercrowded polling units. For example: both polling unit 001, Ward 9, Egbedore LGA with 1,772 registered voters, and Polling Unit 010, Ward 001, Olorunda LGA with 130 registered voters each had 4 security personnel attached to them. This shows an uneven distribution of security personnel per head, at the polls. The AID observers recommend matching the number of security personnel assigned to polling units with the number of registered voters, to balance the security gradient at the polls.

VOTING MATERIALS

• Most polling units observed had complete voting materials.
• The voting materials were publicly displayed.

Pictures above show voting materials displayed at polling unit 011, Ibokun Ward 01, Obokun LGA

• However, voting materials available in some polling units were either insufficient, or had low functionality.
• For example, in polling unit 010, Ward 003, Boripe LGA, the Electoral Stakeholders’ sign – in booklet was not available; as a result, The AID , and all other accredited observers could not officially report their presence at the polling unit to INEC. The case was the same in a good number of polling units observed during the election.
• In Polling Unit 002, Ward 001, Ede North LGA, the presiding officer complained that their ink was producing illegible thumbprint, and as a result could lead to vote cancellation . They were advised to halt the thumbprinting until the ink was replaced.
• Also, in polling unit 001, ward 002, Ife East LGA, the writing ink was producing faint illegible print on the result duplicate sheet. This almost incited violence as party agents insisted on collecting the main result sheet with the legible print, instead of the duplicate sheet with illegible print.

Picture above shows the illegible result duplicate sheet rejected by party agents at polling unit 001, ward 002, Ife East LGA

Fortunately, there was enough security personal to curb the problem. The presiding officer had to manually input the vote count and sign all copies of the duplicate result sheet for the party agents to take to their ward.

• There were instances of insufficient number of polling booths at overcrowded polling units across the state. Examples include polling unit 010, Ward 007, Obokun LGA with 1,540 registered voters, and polling unit 002, ward 001, Ede South LGA with 881 registered voters. Both polling units were overcrowded as they had more registered voters than the INEC recommended maximum of 750 registered voters per polling unit. On election day, there was a great degree of voter turn out in both polling units, but the voting process was slow because they were only assigned one voting booth per polling unit.
• Also, irrespective of the fact that INEC provided polling units with more than 1000 registered voters with 2 BVAS, the voting process was slow in some polling units with more than 500 registered voters and 1 BVAS. Some of those polling units were overcrowded. Voters plead with The AID observers on the field to petition INEC to provide 2 BVAS machines per overcrowded polling unit, to aid faster accreditation + voting. Such scenario was observed in polling unit 005, ward 008, and polling unit 012, ward 007, both in Obokun LGA . Both polling units have 679 and 698 registered voters, respectively.

The picture above depicts the slow pace of balloting at polling unit 012, Ward 7, Obokun LGA.

The polling unit had one voting booth and 1 BVAS machine to cater to the voting needs of all 698 registered voters.

• INEC must review its voting material distribution and functionality and ensure that polling units are provided sufficient and functional materials on election day.
• Polling units with more than 500 registered voters should be given more polling booth, BVAS, and other sensitive materials to ease the electoral process.

ACCREDITATION AND VOTING

Bi – Modal Voter Accreditation System(BVAS)

• To curtail voter fraud and human interference with the electoral process, INEC retired the previously used Smart Card Reader for fingerprint authentication, Z – pad for facial recognition, and incident forms used when electronic voter authentication fails; and introduced the Bi – Modal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) .

Picture from L-R : The BVAS, An INEC ad hoc staff using the BVAS

• The BVAS is a touchscreen, multifunctional, all in one device that serves multiple purposes for different activities in the value chain of elections in Nigeria.

Its purposes include :

• 1) Serves as INEC Voter Enrollment Device (IVED) during voter registration.

2) Serves as the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) for voter accreditation on election day.

For voter biometric authentication, the BVAS integrates both finger – print and facial recognition technology. Where both authentication processes fail, the voter will not be allowed to vote.

• 3) Serves as INEC Results Viewing Device (IReV Device) to be used for election results upload on election day, thereby providing near real time viewing of the election results on the INEC portal.
• The BVAS can be powered for up to 17 hours on the field .
• INEC pre – loaded the voter register of each polling unit in the device to ease offline accreditation.

• Unlike the ‘near’ mass failure observed during previous elections, the BVAS performed relatively well during the Osun Polls.
• To a large extent, the technology was fast, efficient, reliable; and increased the voters’ confidence in the electoral process.
• In most observed polling units, the BVAS functioned at optimal levels. However, in some rural polling units, like polling unit 010, Ward 003, Boripe LGA, and polling unit 001, ward 003, Egbedore LGA, the BVAS experienced some network issues; slowing the voting rate, and possibly influencing the output of the election; as voters who left the polling unit at the time, probably did not come back to cast their vote.
• It was also observed that unlike previous elections, most INEC ad hoc staff had better knowledge of the BVAS operations. However, some staff had issues with logging into, and operating the system. An example of such incident occurred in polling unit 006, ward 001, Ede South LGA. An INEC ICT staff was deployed to aid the ad hoc staff, and the voting process commenced afterwards.
• In few cases , the BVAS was unable to authenticate rural voters using the fingerprint and facial recognition processes. Unfortunately, in line with INEC directives, those intending voters were not allowed to vote.

BVAS Results Viewing Device (IReV)

• The BVAS IReV technology was activated during the Osun polls.
• The technology was used to upload polling units’ result in real time to the INEC portal. This aided faster collation, announcement and declaration of results, unlike in previous elections.
• Below are snapshots of INEC real time Result Viewing Portal during the Osun Polls . According to the data, as at the time the shot was taken, results from 2,755 out of 3763 polling units had been uploaded to the portal.

• Activation of the BVAS IReV feature improved the transparency and credibility index of INEC’s electoral activities.

PARTY AGENTS

The Picture above shows a cross section of INEC accredited APP, APC, and PDP party agents present at polling unit 003, Osu III ward 002 , Atakumosa West LGA.

• All party agents were accredited by INEC pre – election, and were properly identified
• APP, APC, APM, BP and PDP party agents were present in most polling units observed.
• Party agents were to ensure that their candidate / party’s votes were properly identified, counted, entered in the result sheet, and submitted for collation and announcement.
• For the most part, party agents did not interfere with voter accreditation; however, they engaged in massive vote buying across polling units, indirectly influencing the election outcome.

VOTE BUYING

• With the introduction of BVAS technology to the polls, snatching of ballot boxes to rig elections were retired, and the political class resorted to vote buying.
• Unlike previous elections where party agents, stalwarts and voters were witnessed trading votes for both cash and gifts, vote buying during the Osun polls were more sophisticated.
• Rather than carry cash to the polling unit, party agents induced voters to vote for their political parties with coupons in form of printed tallies, codes, signed promissory notes, etc.
• Voters were given these coupons after voting at the polling unit, and the thumb printed ballot paper is sighted by the party agent before submission into the ballot box.
• Voters were to present the coupons at an agreed time and place in order to receive payments for their vote(s) . Example of such coupons are shown below :

Pictures above depict sample coupons given to voters by party agents to guarantee payment for their votes at an agreed time and place.

• This practice cut across most political parties that participated in the election.
• Unfortunately, in polling units observed, vote buying was ongoing in the presence of its attached security personnel whose duties were to guarantee safety and integrity of the polls. The personnel could not stop the trade as they may have been compromised.
• Integrity of the polls were left in the hands of voters who refused to sell their votes.
• Examples of polling units where vote buying with coupons were observed include polling unit 004, ward 008, Ife North LGA; polling unit 009, ward 001, Ife East LGA; polling unit 004, ward 002, Egbedore LGA, and polling unit 010, ward 03, Boripe LGA.

National Electoral Offences Commission

• Vote buying is currently one of the top electoral offences in Nigeria.
• The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) was charged with arresting and prosecuting electoral offenders, especially vote buyers at the Osun polls, but the details and pace of the prosecution seem to be classified and slow.
• Currently, INEC prosecutes electoral offenders under the electoral act, with the conviction powers vested on the federal, state and FCT courts. Unfortunately, the trial and conviction rate has been low and discouraging; as the courts seem to be overburdened by other cases in their jurisdiction.
• INEC proposes that the commission will be truly efficient and independent if given powers to handle all levels of electoral activities, including prosecuting and convicting offenders of its law.
• To drive this cause, INEC has lobbied for the creation of a “Bill for an Act to establish National Electoral Offences Commission and for Related Matters, 2022” to prosecute all levels of electoral offenders.
• INEC proposes that with the establishment of the commission, vote buying and all other electoral offences will be criminalized.
• In addition to electoral offenders apprehended at polling units, their high-profile sponsors will also be arrested, prosecuted, and convicted.
• The bill is currently being reviewed at the National assembly.
• The AID pleads the Federal Government to critically analyze, negotiate, and act on the bill, so that INEC can achieve its goal of prosecuting and convicting electoral offenders; and by extension, improve the credibility of its mandate.

RESULT COUNTING

• Upon completion of accreditation and voting, vote counting resumed at most polling units at 2pm; with the exception of some overcrowded polling units with insufficient and / or dysfunctional voting material(s). Such polling units began counting after 2p.m.

Pictures above show ongoing vote count at polling unit 001, ward 002, Ife East LGA.

Post Counting, the number of votes gained by each political party were entered in the result sheets and signed by the presiding officers and party agents present.

Pictures above show the signing of result sheet by the presiding officer and a party agent at polling unit 001, ward 002, Ife East LGA.

After the signing of the result sheets by relevant parties, the party agents collected the duplicate copies for reference, while the presiding officers pasted the original copies on the walls of their respective polling units for electoral stakeholders to view.

The picture above is the result sheet from polling unit 001, ward 2, Ife East LGA pasted on the wall.

The presiding officers also uploaded their polling units’ result to INEC’s result viewing portal using the BVAS IReV feature. A sample of the Result Viewing Portal was shown in slide 17.

OSUN 2022 GOVERNORSHIP ELECTION RANKING TABLE

Below is a ranking table of all the polling units visited by The AID Roving Observation teams. The observation is ranked on a scale of 0 -10, with 0 as the least, and 10 as the highest rank. The ranking is based on the teams’ observation as at the time, they were present at the polling unit.

Notable Abbreviations :

• Polling Unit : PU
• Youth Turnout : YTO
• Women Turn out: WTO
• Number of People with Disability Present : NPWDP
• Access to Polling Unit: APU
• Polling Unit Security: PUS
• Availability of Electoral Materials: AEM
• Punctuality of INEC officials: PIO
• Adherence to INEC rules and regulations : AIRR
• Bi – modal voter accreditation System Function : BVAS Function
• Accredited Election Observer Groups Present: AEOP

OSUN 2022 GOVERNORSHIP ELECTION RANKING TABLE (DISCUSSION)

Youth Turnout ( YTO) : Of the voters that turned out in the polling units observed by The AID, 69.8% can be classified as youths/young people between ages 18 – 35 years. In recent times, Young people seem more interested in the nation’s political affairs. It is one of the reasons for the spike in PVC collection. Some critics claim the progressive decline in quality leadership experienced by citizens have sparked the interest. Others claim the new fashion of “vote buying” is the incentive behind the interest, as they want a share of the “National Cake”. Either way, its is a welcome development, as the nation’s democracy must be preserved with the next generation.

Women Turn out (WTO) : About 71.7% of accredited voters during the election were women. Like previous elections , more women, (especially middle aged and elderly women) turned out to vote in villages / rural areas of the state than men and young people. This has been a consistent demographic in recent elections. Rural women, usually mobilized by their woman , and /or market leader, are the backbone of most elections in Nigeria.

Number of People with Disability Present (NPWDP) : The AID commends INEC for hiring 35 PWDs as ad hoc staff in the Osun election. This emphasizes the commission’s commitment to an inclusive, credible and transparent electoral process. Unfortunately, of the voters that turned out in the polling units observed, only 0.0023% PWDs were present. The highest number of PWDs were observed in Polling unit 009, ward 001, Ife East LGA. This is a disappointing figure as it depicts that, like other elections, the 2022 Osun Governorship Election did not cater to the interest of the most vulnerable in our society, especially the PWD. INEC must improve its voter education and partnership with the PWD community, to increase its voter turnout.

Picture above shows a PWD waiting to be accredited at polling unit 008, ward 003, Boripe LGA

• Access to Polling Units (APU) : Polling units observed in the 2022 Osun Governorship election were 94.78% accessible. INEC converted the 753 voting points in the state to polling units to make the electoral process easily accessible to all citizens. To eliminate political and religious bias, INEC moved polling units from private houses, palaces and religious institutions to neutral locations. Unfortunately, some newly created polling units like polling unit 018, ward 001, Olorunda LGA had low voter registration and turnout. INEC must improve its Voter Education and Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) program to increase the number of registered voters and turnout per polling unit in the state.
• Polling Unit Security (PUS) : Like previous elections, security personnel across polling units in the state were unevenly distributed; as a result, it was ranked 62.6%. Some polling units had less voters and more security personnel per head, than others. In future elections, INEC might consider working with security agencies to deploy its staff according to the number of registered voters per polling unit. This might ensure that equity is guaranteed in securing the electorate on election day.
• Availability of Electoral Materials (AEM): AEM was ranked 87.60% because, even though most materials were available, some were not functional as at the time The AID roving team observed the polling unit. In other cases, the available electoral materials were not sufficient. For future elections, INEC must ensure that voting materials are always available , functional and sufficient in all polling units on election day.
• Punctuality of INEC officials (PIO) : PIO was ranked 80.65% because across the state, polling units did not open on or before 8am, the official opening time. The average opening time in observed polling units was 8.30a.m. The presiding officers cited late activation of RACs as the reason for the lateness. For future elections, INEC must improve its logistics operations to ensure early activation of RACs and polling units.

• Adherence to INEC Rules and Regulations (AIRR) : Like previous elections, INEC’s election day guidelines were adhered to in most polling units. However, in some polling units, electoral stakeholders failed to adhere to these rules and regulations. As a result, AIRR was ranked 78.91%.Vote buying, campaigning in and around polling units, and so on were examples of activities against INEC’s Election Day code of conduct observed. To curb these malpractices, the Federal Government must improve its response to INEC’s call for the establishment of a National Electoral Offences Commission. This commission will give INEC the jurisdiction to hold all electoral offenders and their sponsors accountable for failing to honor its code of conduct; and make them face its consequences.
• Bi – modal Voter Accreditation System Function (BVAS Function) : Unlike previous elections, BVAS functionality rate was largely optimal at 86.09% . The activation of all functions of the BVAS, including IReV eliminated most forms of electoral fraud, and increased the credibility of the electoral process. The AID commends INEC for the technological development. For future elections, The AID recommends an improvement in BVAS network adoption in rural areas; and its sufficiency in overcrowded polling units.
• Accredited Election Observer Groups Present (AEOP): Accredited Election Observer Groups were observed in 22 out of 46

(47.82%) polling units. The observer groups did not interfere with the voting process. The presence of both local and foreign observers added credibility to the electoral process.

The image above shows a section of The AID, CCD, and YIAGA observers on the field at Polling Unit 007, Ward 003, Oriade LGA

ANNOUNCEMENT AND DECLARATION OF RESULTS

• After collating and interpreting the results from all polling units, wards, and local government areas in the state, on Sunday, July 17th, 2022, INEC announced Senator Ademola Adeleke of the PDP, winner of the 2022 Osun Governorship Election.
• Senator Adeleke polled 403,371 votes to beat his closest rival, the incumbent Governor Gboyega Oyetola of the APC who polled 375,027 votes.
• Below is an official chart of how all participating political parties and their candidates fared:

Pictute Source : @inecnigeria on instagram

CONCLUSION

Image above shows The AID debriefing session post Osun 2022 Governorship Elections

• Upon analysis of the general conduct of all electoral actors pre – , during, and post – polls, The AID observation team suggests that compared to previous elections, the 2022 Osun Governorship Election conducted by INEC was largely credible.
• The AID prays the commission to consider, analyze, and implement its recommendations and that of other accredited observer groups, so as to improve its mandate, and ensure that the nation’s democracy is sacrosanct.
• For more information, please contact us :

Address : 10A Akintunde Adeyemi Drive, Lekki Phase 1, Lagos.

Phone number : +2349169230506

Email : theaidorganization@gmail.com

Website : www.the-aid.org