The integrity of the August 15 Osun governorship election is now facing calls for further scrutiny, following allegations of vote buying, intimidation and other electoral offences. The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project, SERAP, has asked three federal agencies to jointly investigate the reported infractions.
In a petition dated August 15, 2026, and signed by its Deputy Director, Kolawole Oluwadare, SERAP called on the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, and the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission, ICPC, to examine the allegations and establish whether they affected the conduct of the election.
The organisation cited preliminary observations by the EU Support to Democratic Governance in Nigeria Election Observation Hub, which recorded 323 electoral offences and irregularities across 726 polling units observed as of midday on election day. The reported incidents included 103 cases of alleged vote trading, 28 cases involving inducement of polling and security officials, and 31 cases of voter obstruction.
Other reported infractions included campaigning at polling units, voter impersonation, multiple voting, election-official misconduct and the exposure of ballot papers. The observers also documented 38 security incidents, including alleged thuggery, attacks on electoral officials and voter intimidation.
SERAP is asking the agencies to trace the movement of funds allegedly used to influence voters and investigate those who may have financed or facilitated the activities. It also wants relevant banking and mobile-money records, telecommunications data, CCTV footage and polling-unit documentation preserved and examined as part of the investigation.
The organisation has further called for independent scrutiny involving regional and international institutions, including the African Union, ECOWAS, the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights and relevant United Nations human rights mechanisms. It says any persons found, based on credible evidence, to have committed electoral or related criminal offences should be prosecuted in accordance with the law.
SERAP says the credibility of the Osun election depends not only on the announcement of a result but also on whether voters were able to freely make their political choices without inducement, intimidation or violence. It has therefore urged INEC, EFCC and ICPC to publish the outcome of any investigation and make relevant evidence available, where lawful, to election tribunals and other accountability institutions.
