Yiaga Africa has said that the official results of the June 20 Ekiti Governorship Election announced by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) are consistent with its Process and Results Verification for Transparency (PRVT) estimates, indicating that the outcome reflected votes cast and counted at polling units.
The civil society organisation made this known in its post-election statement presented in Ado-Ekiti by the Chair of the 2026 Ekiti Election Observation Mission, Dr Aisha Abdullahi.
According to Yiaga Africa, the election recorded notable improvements in election-day administration, including the early deployment of officials and materials, timely commencement of accreditation and voting, as well as the generally peaceful conduct of the exercise across the state.
The group also commended security agencies, particularly the Nigeria Police Force, for their professionalism during the election, noting that reports from its 250 stationary and 22 mobile observers indicated that the process was largely orderly and peaceful.
Despite the positive assessment, Yiaga Africa expressed concern over widespread incidents of vote buying and voter inducement, describing them as significant threats to electoral integrity and the ability of citizens to exercise their voting rights freely.
The organisation further identified gaps in results management, voter turnout computation and inconsistencies in sensitive election materials, including ballot papers and result sheets, which it said did not fully correspond with the final list of political parties approved to participate in the election.
On the deployment of technology, Yiaga Africa reported that the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) functioned effectively in 87 per cent of observed polling units, while challenges recorded in some locations were promptly resolved by election officials.
The group stated that its statistical analysis showed that the vote shares announced by INEC for major political parties fell within its projected ranges, reinforcing confidence that the official results were not significantly altered during the collation process.
However, Yiaga Africa noted a discrepancy in voter turnout figures, observing that INEC used a registered voter figure of 988,251 instead of the updated register of 1,059,360 voters when calculating turnout. It urged the commission to clarify the variance and strengthen quality assurance measures in the production of sensitive election materials.
The organisation also called on security agencies to intensify efforts against vote buying and electoral intimidation, while urging INEC to improve compliance with electoral guidelines ahead of future elections, particularly the 2027 General Election.
