Towards the 2027 general elections, the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, in Osun State has urged journalists to sustain responsible reporting by providing accurate, timely and unbiased information while supporting the commission's voter education and public enlightenment programmes.
The Osun State Resident Electoral Commissioner, Oluwatoyin Babalola, also said the commission remained committed to "continuous improvement, transparency, accountability, and the delivery of credible elections".
Babalola gave the charge on Monday during a press conference where she outlined the commission's preparations, operational arrangements and outstanding activities ahead of the elections.
She added that INEC would continue to work with the media, security agencies, civil society organisations and other stakeholders to ensure successful conduct of the 2027 general elections.
She also assured residents of Osun State of its preparedness to conduct free, fair, credible, inclusive and transparent elections during the 2027 general elections.
Babalola disclosed that INEC had successfully completed nine of the 14 activities on its election timetable, adding that the commission was working towards meeting all remaining deadlines.
She said the official register of voters would be published on December 15, while the notice of poll would be released on December 29.
According to the REC, "campaigns for the presidential and National Assembly elections would end on January 14, while those for the State House of Assembly election would close on February 4.
"The presidential and National Assembly elections are scheduled for January 16, while the State House of Assembly election would hold on February 6."
She explained that the commission had conducted the display of the preliminary register of voters across registration areas in the state to enable residents to scrutinise their details and submit claims and objections.
Babalola said all complaints received would be addressed before the final register was published on December 15.
On Permanent Voter Cards, PVCs, the REC disclosed that INEC had distributed 1,903,390 cards before the recent governorship election, representing 81.5 per cent of the cards available, while 457,260 remained uncollected.
She added that the commission distributed another 7,547 PVCs following the resumption of distribution on October 9, bringing the reported distribution figure to 81.74 per cent, with 18.26 per cent still outstanding.
Babalola also assured residents that the commission had sufficient Bimodal Voter Accreditation System, BVAS, machines for the 3,763 polling units in Osun State.
She disclosed that INEC had 38 additional units and 1,328 backup machines, explaining that the technology would be used for voter authentication, accreditation and uploading polling unit results to the INEC Result Viewing, IReV, portal.
On personnel preparation, she said recruitment of ad hoc staff had commenced through the INEC Press Portal, urging eligible applicants to register.
"The recruitment process would prioritise competence, neutrality, integrity and professionalism. Training had already commenced for commission officials, including coalition support and result verification officers and Electoral Operations Support Centre personnel," she said.
The REC disclosed that INEC had organised workshops on logistics, election risk management, monitoring and support operations, as well as the training and certification of electoral trainers.
She said outstanding training exercises would cover security personnel, presiding officers, supervising presiding officers, coalition officers and other election officials to ensure effective performance during the polls.
On election security, Babalola said INEC had conducted a ground-truthing exercise across all 30 local government areas to identify and capture the coordinates of security flashpoints.
She disclosed that the identified locations had been shared with security agencies to enable preventive measures, adding that the commission would also deploy its INEC Security and Notification System to monitor threats and respond to incidents.
She revealed that Osun had 98 Super Registration Area Centres and 97 Registration Area Centres designated for camping electoral personnel ahead of deployment.
On election materials, Babalola said reusable non-sensitive materials recovered after the governorship election had been cleaned and returned to local government offices, while sensitive materials, including ballot papers and result sheets, would arrive shortly before the general elections.
Addressing voter education and media participation, the REC said INEC had intensified sensitisation programmes targeting women, persons with disabilities, youths and other groups through radio, television, jingles and stakeholder engagements.
She disclosed that the media accreditation portal was activated on October 30 and would remain open until December 1, urging media organisations to complete their registration before the deadline.