By Tracy Moses
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) on Thursday commenced the distribution of reprinted ballot papers and result sheets to agents of participating political parties across the 30 Local Government Areas (LGAs) of Osun State ahead of Saturday’s governorship election.
The exercise began at the Commission’s state office in Osogbo on Thursday night, following INEC’s compliance with a Federal High Court judgment ordering the inclusion of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) governorship candidate, Dr Francis Olugbenga Ajala, and his running mate, Faseke Babajimi Oladipo, in the election.
The Federal High Court in Abuja, in its judgment delivered on July 22, 2026, in Suit No. FHC/ABJ/CS/344/2026, directed INEC to recognise, accept, upload, process and publish Ajala’s candidature for the August 15 governorship election.
INEC complied with the judgment on Wednesday, August 12, leading to the reproduction of the ballot papers and relevant result sheets to reflect the inclusion of the SDP candidates.
The reprinted materials were subsequently moved to the Osun State INEC office in Osogbo, where agents of the participating political parties gathered on Thursday night to witness the distribution process.
REC Explains Distribution Process
Addressing journalists at the venue, the Osun State Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC), Mrs Oluwatoyin O. Babalola, explained that the process would begin with the signing of the relevant result sheets by party agents before the materials were distributed to the respective LGAs.
Babalola said the materials had already been customised for the polling units for which they were intended, with the names of the polling units indicated on the documents.
“Everything is going to be customised. Believe it. All the results, they already have the name of the polling units on them,” the REC said.
She explained that the signing of the documents by party agents was part of the verification and documentation process preceding the distribution of the materials.
“If you are signing, you see what happened,” she said while explaining the procedure at the venue.
The exercise involved the distribution of the reprinted ballot papers and result sheets to agents of participating political parties for onward movement to the respective 30 LGAs. The materials were not being directly deployed to polling units at the venue.
The presence of the party agents was intended to ensure transparency as the Commission documented and distributed the sensitive election materials.
Reprinting Follows Court Order
The reproduction of the sensitive materials became necessary after the Federal High Court ordered INEC to include the SDP governorship candidate and his running mate in the election.
The judgment came after the Commission had already made arrangements for the production of election materials based on the candidates previously cleared for the poll.
Following the court order, INEC announced on Wednesday, August 12, that it had complied with the judgment and commenced the necessary processes to ensure that the affected candidates appeared on the ballot.
The development required the Commission to reproduce the relevant ballot papers and result sheets barely two days before the election.
The reprinting and distribution of the materials form part of INEC’s final logistical preparations for Saturday’s governorship election across the state’s 30 LGAs.
With the distribution exercise underway at the Osogbo office on Thursday night, the Commission moved closer to completing the deployment of the reprinted sensitive materials ahead of the August 15 poll.