Hundreds of demonstrators in Abuja hailed Joash Amupitan, Bola Tinubu and security agencies, urging the same standard for the 2027 elections

Hundreds of protesters gathered at the headquarters of the Independent National Electoral Commission in Abuja on Thursday, August 20, 2026, to praise INEC Chairman Professor Joash Ojo Amupitan, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and security agencies over the conduct of the recently concluded Osun State governorship election.

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The demonstrators, who disrupted vehicular movement around the commission’s headquarters for nearly an hour, said the August 15 election had strengthened their confidence in the electoral process and offered an encouraging benchmark ahead of Nigeria’s 2027 general elections.

The protest came four days after INEC declared incumbent Governor Ademola Adeleke of the Accord Party the winner of the Osun poll, with 511,067 votes against 444,815 votes recorded by his closest challenger, All Progressives Congress candidate Bola Oyebamiji. African Democratic Congress candidate Najeem Salaam finished third with 17,180 votes.

Adeleke won 19 of Osun’s 30 local government areas, while Oyebamiji carried 11, according to the announced results. The result secured Adeleke a second term after an election that had been closely watched as an early test of the electoral environment before 2027.

The protesters arrived under several coalition banners, including Opposition Political Parties United for Democracy, the National Ethnic Groups, Area Consultative Youth Movement, Middle Belt Youth Forum, Ohaneze Ndigbo Youth Movement, South South Youth Leaders Consultative Forum, Oduduwa Youth Assembly and the African Centre for Justice and Human Rights.

Presenting the group’s letter to the commission, coalition leader Comrade Obed Agu said the gathering was intended to acknowledge what the protesters regarded as a positive development in Nigeria’s electoral process.

“We are here to say thank you to an institution whose conduct in the Osun governorship election has renewed the confidence of many Nigerians in the electoral process,” Agu said.

The coalition said its position followed a wider post-election discussion involving political parties, ethnic youth organisations, community leaders, religious leaders, women leaders, civil society groups and other democratic stakeholders.

Agu said Amupitan should be assessed by his conduct in office rather than by assumptions surrounding his appointment.

“We reached a clear conclusion that Amupitan has earned our confidence,” he said.

The protesters pointed to what they described as the commission’s engagement with political parties, adherence to electoral timelines, preparations for the 2027 elections and broader stakeholder consultations as reasons for their assessment.

Amupitan was nominated by President Tinubu in October 2025 and confirmed by the Senate before taking office on October 23, 2025, succeeding Professor Mahmood Yakubu.

INEC says his mandate includes delivering free, fair, credible, transparent and inclusive elections.

The Osun election was therefore an important early test of that pledge. Before the poll, Amupitan repeatedly insisted that INEC had no preferred candidate or political allegiance and that only the lawful choice of voters would determine the outcome.

In one of his clearest statements ahead of the election, Amupitan said the choice of governor should be determined by votes rather than violence.

“The decision of who becomes the governor should not be decided by bullet but by the will of the people through their votes,” he said during a visit to the Ataoja of Osogbo, Oba Jimoh Oyetunji.

The protesters said the credibility they attributed to the Osun process should not end with that election.

They called for equal treatment of voters, fairness towards political parties, transparent procedures and an electoral system in which every valid vote is counted.

“The confidence also carries responsibility,” the coalition said in its letter. “We expect the same standard to continue, and even higher standard in 2027.”

The group also praised President Tinubu and security agencies, arguing that their conduct helped create an environment in which the Osun election could take place without undue interference.

The protesters said government could exercise its authority without using state power to influence electoral outcomes, and urged the administration to maintain that approach through the 2027 election cycle.

They similarly called on security agencies to maintain neutrality and professionalism, while asking political parties to allow voters to determine electoral outcomes.

The message extended beyond praise for the institutions involved.

The protesters urged Nigerians to remain engaged with democracy, arguing that institutions should be acknowledged when they perform well and held accountable when they fail.

Their intervention comes against the background of long-standing concerns over electoral credibility in Nigeria, including allegations of interference, violence, vote manipulation and weak public confidence in election management.

INEC itself has acknowledged the importance of rebuilding public trust.

In March, Amupitan appealed to the National Peace Committee and other stakeholders to strengthen confidence and peaceful participation ahead of the 2027 elections.

The commission has also repeatedly stressed neutrality as a central principle of its work.

During its preparations for the Osun election, INEC described its stakeholder engagement process as part of its commitment to operational transparency and strict neutrality.

The Osun poll was particularly significant because it was one of the final off-cycle governorship elections before the 2027 general elections.

INEC’s official election calendar places the presidential and National Assembly elections on January 16, 2027, followed by governorship and State House of Assembly elections on February 6, 2027.

The election also produced a politically notable outcome. Adeleke, who contested under the Accord Party after leaving the Peoples Democratic Party, defeated the APC’s Oyebamiji by 66,252 votes based on the announced figures.

President Tinubu subsequently congratulated Adeleke, describing the result as a reflection of the confidence Osun voters had placed in the governor.

The praise directed at INEC has also extended beyond Thursday’s demonstration.

Other groups have publicly commended Amupitan and the commission over the peaceful conduct of the Osun election, describing the poll as an important step towards rebuilding confidence in Nigeria’s electoral system.

Receiving the protesters’ letter in Abuja, INEC National Commissioner Haruna Kudu Mohammed assured the group that the commission would continue improving its conduct of elections.

That response leaves the commission with a clear challenge as preparations for 2027 intensify.

Public confidence gained from one election can be strengthened through consistency, but it can also be quickly lost if later polls fall short of the same expectations.

For the protesters, the message was therefore less a declaration that Nigeria’s electoral problems have disappeared than an appeal to preserve what they considered a promising standard.

Their central demand was that Osun should become a benchmark rather than an exception.

Also read: Osun victory: Adeleke receives INEC certificate in Osogbo

As Nigeria moves towards a presidential election less than five months away, the ability of INEC and other institutions to sustain neutrality, transparency and public confidence will remain under close scrutiny.