The Catholic Secretariat of Nigeria (CSN), through the Good Governance Unit of the Church and Society Department, in partnership with the Justice Development and Peace Makers Centre (JDPMC), Osun State, participated in the observation of the Osun State off-cycle gubernatorial election on the 15th August, 2026. Trained election observers were deployed across the state to monitor the electoral process and submit real-time reports from polling units.
Field reports indicated that voting was conducted peacefully in most polling units, while a delegation from the Catholic Secretariat of Nigeria undertook independent visits to various locations to assess the conduct of the election and verify information received from observers. The exercise recorded a generally calm and orderly atmosphere, with significant voter turnout observed across many polling units. Although accreditation commenced early in most areas, delays were noted in a few locations, resulting in voting extending into the evening. Despite these isolated challenges, the election process was largely transparent, orderly, and credible.
In addition to observing the election, the Osun gubernatorial election served as a pilot deployment of the Election Observation App. The exercise provided an opportunity to evaluate the application’s performance, validate key functionalities, and collect user feedback from observers in the field. Lessons learned from the deployment enabled the resolution of identified bugs and technical issues, thereby improving the platform’s stability, scalability, and operational readiness ahead of the 2027 General Elections. Overall, the app recorded a high level of success and proved effective in supporting real-time election observation and reporting.
As a nonpartisan institution, the Catholic Church does not support any candidate or political party. Its role is to promote credible, free, fair, and transparent elections through real-time election observation.
Catholic Secretariat Observes Osun Election, Pilots New Observation App
