The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and security agencies have pledged to ensure a peaceful, credible, and transparent governorship election in Ekiti State ahead of the June 20, 2026 poll.
The commitment was reaffirmed during a high-level readiness assessment meeting held in Ado-Ekiti with members of the Inter-Agency Consultative Committee on Election Security (ICCES), electoral officials, security chiefs, and other stakeholders. The Resident Electoral Commissioner in Ekiti State, Dr. Bunmi Omoseyindemi, said the meeting was aimed at strengthening coordination among security agencies and INEC to ensure smooth conduct of the election.
Dr. Omoseyindemi said INEC had improved voter education, logistics planning, and training of election personnel, while also engaging political parties, traditional rulers, civil society groups, and the media. He, however, identified vote buying, political thuggery, fake news, transportation challenges, and insecurity in remote communities as major threats to the electoral process. He stressed the need for professionalism, neutrality, and quick response among security agencies to maintain public trust.
Also speaking, the Ekiti State Commissioner of Police, CP Falade Micheal, said security agencies were working together through intelligence sharing and joint operations to guarantee peaceful elections. He warned against political violence, misinformation, and violations of electoral laws, adding that security personnel would maintain law and order before, during, and after the governorship election.
INEC Chairman, Prof. Joash Ojo Amupitan (SAN), said preparations for the election had advanced with the configuration of the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) and recruitment of ad-hoc staff through the INECPRES portal. He disclosed that risk assessments identified flashpoint areas linked to thuggery, cultism, kidnapping, ballot snatching, and vandalism, with 469 polling units marked for special security attention. He added that the Commission was working with the EFCC and ICPC to tackle vote buying, while PVCs from the Continuous Voter Registration exercise would soon be distributed across the state’s 177 wards.