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The National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS), Southwest Zone D, has appealed to President Bola Tinubu to urgently reinforce directives to security agencies and INEC to ensure the will of Osun voters is not subverted during collation of Saturday’s governorship election results.
In an open letter signed by Coordinator of NANS Southwest, Comr. Josiah Adeyemo, and released late Saturday, the student body said “history is watching Osun tonight.”
The group referenced the president’s public charge on Friday that INEC and security agencies should ensure the Osun election is “peaceful, transparent, free and fair,” noting that he described it as “an important test of INEC’s preparedness for the 2027 general elections.”
“As representatives of Nigerian students in the Southwest, we believe those words must not end as another presidential statement,” NANS said.
“At this critical stage of collation, they must be reflected in the conduct of every security officer and every electoral official entrusted with the votes of the people.”
NANS said it remains non-partisan and monitored the process on behalf of students, not any candidate or party.
It, however, said “disturbing reports now reaching our monitoring structures, particularly from Olorunda Local Government, concerning restrictions around the collation environment and allegations of discrepancies between results emerging from polling units and figures being presented during the collation process.”
The group stressed the allegations “require immediate verification,” adding that “the integrity we demand from INEC must equally guide the statements we make as student leaders.”
The letter urged Tinubu to protect democratic legacy, citing past examples.
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“In 2015, President Goodluck Jonathan placed national stability and democratic continuity above personal political interest,” NANS said.
“Under President Muhammadu Buhari, opposition parties also won important off-cycle elections, including Osun in 2022, while the Presidency publicly maintained its commitment to credible elections.”
The group added: “There are times when the greater victory for a President is not the victory of his political party, but the confidence of Nigerians in the institutions over which he presides. This may be such a moment for President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.”
NANS called for: absolute neutrality from every security formation deployed for the election; complete transparency from INEC throughout the remaining collation process; immediate investigation by INEC into complaints from Olorunda and other affected collation centres; unrestricted access for accredited party agents, observers and journalists to perform lawful duties; and preservation and transparent reconciliation of polling-unit result sheets, ward results, LG collation figures, and records already uploaded to the IReV portal before any final declaration
“INEC’s result portal is already receiving thousands of polling-unit result sheets from across Osun. Those records must remain an important transparency safeguard throughout the collation process,” the statement further reads.
NANS noted that Osun has over 2.3 million registered voters, with young people constituting a substantial part.
“Our students have fulfilled their own part of the democratic bargain. They registered. They collected their PVCs. They came out peacefully. They voted. All we ask now is that their votes be allowed to count exactly as cast,” Adeyemo stated.
“Let the security agencies protect the process, not influence it. Let INEC complete the process without fear, favour or interference. And when the final result is announced, let every Nigerian… be able to say that the people of Osun chose their governor themselves.”
The letter was copied to the INEC Chairman, the Inspector-General of Police, the DG of DSS, the National Security Adviser, and the REC, INEC Osun State.
