Ahead of the August 15, 2026, governorship poll, the Independent National Electoral Commission in Osun State said it has identified about 385 flashpoints in the state and 200 difficult terrains that will be hard to access.

This was disclosed by the Resident Electoral Commissioner for the state, Oluwatoyin Babalola, while speaking at a meeting convened by the Deputy Inspector General of Police in charge of South-West, Adegoke Fayoade, with heads of security agencies, religious leaders, electoral officials and the media.

The meeting, held at the Osun State command headquarters of the Nigeria Police Force in Osogbo on Friday, was also attended by the Commissioner of Police, Ibrahim Gotan.

Babalola, speaking on INEC’s preparation for the poll, said details of the risk assessment exercise done by the commission across the 30 local government areas in the state had been shared with the heads of all security agencies in the state.

“We have also conducted risk management training because we are currently in our amber zone. We have field officers who will be in the field for ground truthing to carry out risk assessments in different locations across the 30 local government areas.

“We identified 385 flashpoints in the state, which have been shared with the security agencies. We also identified difficult terrains to guide their operations, because there are still places in the state that are not motorable and cannot be easily accessed.

“We identified about 200 such areas, and we have been training our staff on how to manage themselves and maintain peace. I have visited 29 out of the 30 local government areas in the state,” Babalola said.

The REC further said that she visited Ila and Ifedayo local government areas, where there were cases of kidnapping, adding that she got assurances from the security agencies that there would be peace before and after the election.

Speaking on the availability of the materials for the poll, Babalola said the commission had received about 75 per cent of what it would need for the election.

“For example, non-statutory materials have been deployed to their appropriate locations. The Commissioner of Police, at all times, along with other security agencies, has been assuring us that we will have a peaceful election.

“Because if we conduct an election and there is no peace, even if we make the best plans and nobody comes out to vote on election day, it will be an exercise in futility,” Babalola said.

She appealed to all security agencies in the state to intensify efforts, expressing the belief that they can still do more to further assure the residents that the governorship election will be conducted in a peaceful atmosphere.

“On our part, we are committed to conducting free, fair, credible, inclusive and transparent governorship elections,” the REC said.

Voters in Osun State will go to the polls on August 15 to elect a governor in an election in which the incumbent, Ademola Adeleke, is seeking re-election on the platform of the Accord.

He faces his main challengers: Bola Oyebamiji of the All Progressives Congress and Dr Najeem Salaam of the African Democratic Congress, who is being supported by former Osun State governor Rauf Aregbesola. (The PUNCH)

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