By With Osun State heading to the polls on today, here is a single, updated rundown of the essentials, drawn from INEC’s latest figures and AfrikTimes’ own reporting across the state this week.
Voting Hours
Voting starts at 8:30am and ends at 2:30pm. INEC has confirmed that any voter already on the queue by 2:30pm will still be allowed to vote, so residents are advised to join the line early rather than risk being turned away at the close of polls.
Election Coverage at a Glance
- 30 Local Government Areas
- 332 wards
- 3,763 polling units
- 2,339,233 registered voters
PVC Collection
INEC says 1,906,390 Permanent Voter Cards, or 81.5 percent of registered voters, had been collected as of Thursday, according to a statement from the National Commissioner and Chairman of the commission’s Information and Voter Education Committee, Mohammed Haruna. The remaining 426,842 uncollected cards, 18.5 percent of the register, are being held at the Central Bank of Nigeria in line with standard practice. Separately, 6,101 voters who applied for replacement of damaged, defaced or lost cards were able to print downloadable copies. INEC says a full polling-unit-by-polling-unit breakdown of collection figures is published on its website.
The Race
Fifteen political parties are on the ballot, after a Federal High Court order this week added the Social Democratic Party’s candidate, Francis Olugbenga Ajala, to the race just days to the poll. Despite the crowded field, three names are drawing the most attention: incumbent Governor Ademola Adeleke of the Accord Party, Bola Oyebamiji of the All Progressives Congress, and Najeem Salaam of the African Democratic Congress.
Security
The police say about 30 Commissioners of Police and more than 15,000 operatives will be deployed statewide, coordinated by a Deputy Inspector-General of Police, with a helicopter and drone unit providing aerial surveillance. Each of the 30 LGAs is to get its own unit of roughly 60 armed mobile policemen. The Army is expected to seal off border roads into Osun from midnight Saturday, restricting movement to essential and security duties and voters headed to their polling units.
Related AfrikTimes Coverage This Week
- A fact-check examining APC candidate Bola Oyebamiji’s claim, made at the August 11 Arise TV/ThisDay town hall in Osogbo, that his “ingenuity” as Commissioner for Finance secured Osun’s Paris Club refund. AfrikTimes found the timeline does not support the claim.
- A report on the alleged attack on Odo Otin Local Government Chairman Adewale Adeyinka in Okuku, linked to Francis Eniade, corroborated by Speaker Adewale Egbedun, with two suspects and a firearm handed to the DSS.
- A voter-sentiment feature drawn from two days of reporting across Ile-Ife, Iwo and Ikirun, capturing what is actually shaping residents’ choices beyond campaign rallies, including the reluctance of many Ikirun residents to speak on record amid the tense security atmosphere in Osun East.
AfrikTimes will continue to update this newsroom page as fresh developments emerge ahead of and during Saturday’s vote.
