Economist and former banker Atedo Peterside has called for continued scrutiny of the electoral process following the 2026 Osun State governorship election, despite Governor Ademola Adeleke’s re-election.
Peterside said the high turnout recorded during the election was one of the major lessons from the exercise, arguing that strong voter participation could help reduce opportunities for electoral malpractice.
In a post on his X account on Sunday, he said Nigerians should not become complacent because of the election outcome and urged greater attention to the transparency of the electoral process.
“Some of us refuse to get carried away by the #OsunGuber2026 Election result,” Peterside said.
He noted that voter turnout reached 43.4 per cent, describing the figure as high compared with recent Nigerian elections.
According to him, increased participation, combined with close monitoring of the electoral process, remains important in preventing electoral manipulation.
“The only thing it really proves is that a large voter turnout (43.4% in Osun is high by recent Nigerian standards) is the best antidote to rigging and that we must all join hands to hold INEC Nigeria’s ‘feet to the fire’,” he said.
Peterside also questioned the status of results on the Independent National Electoral Commission’s (INEC) Result Viewing Portal (IReV).
He said that by 8:50 a.m. on Sunday, 98.35 per cent of results from the state’s 3,763 polling units had been uploaded, leaving 62 polling unit results outstanding.
He acknowledged that the missing results were unlikely to alter the election outcome because of Adeleke’s margin of victory.
However, he said INEC still had a responsibility to explain why the outstanding results had not been uploaded.
“INEC must still explain why they have NOT uploaded the results from 62 Polling Units out of 3,763 Polling Units, notwithstanding the fact that those results are now largely inconsequential because Governor Adeleke has already won,” Peterside said.
His comments come amid ongoing discussions over the transparency of Nigeria’s electoral processes and the role of electronic result transmission in strengthening public confidence in elections.
(The Sun)
