• God won’t cast your vote, get PVC, bishops charge Christians
• INEC warns against breach of peace in Ekiti

Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has announced that political campaigns for the coming Osun State governorship election will officially begin on March 11, 2026.

This was as leaders of the Catholic, Anglican, Methodist, Baptist and African churches in the state called on eligible voters to take ownership of the nation’s democratic process, stressing that God, who empowered citizens to effect change by themselves, would not do for them what they could do through the ballot.

Meanwhile, INEC has read the riot act to political parties indulging in inciting comments as it lifted the ban on public campaigns in Ekiti State.

The Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) for Osun, Dr Mutiu Agboke, disclosed the campaign date yesterday during an expanded stakeholders’ meeting in Osogbo, organised to mark the start of the second phase of the Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) exercise.

“By God’s grace, full campaign activities will commence on March 11, 2026. We will still meet with stakeholders, especially political parties, to brief them appropriately,” Agboke said, explaining that INEC would formally communicate the campaign timeline to political actors in line with the existing Electoral Act and guidelines.

He further assured that INEC would provide clear protocols to guide political parties during the campaign period.

“We are going to roll out the protocols and conduct of political parties in line with the Electoral Act, as the relevant sections are there to guide everyone,” he stated.

The high-ranking clerics also advocated mass participation in the electoral process, just as they called for peaceful coexistence among Nigerians before, during and after elections in the country.

The call was made during an ecumenical service at St Benedict Catholic Cathedral, Popo, Osogbo, where bishops and representatives of the churches gathered to pray for Osun and urge Christians to collect their Permanent Voter’s Cards (PVCs) and participate actively in the electoral process.

Specifically, they urged voters in Osun to take the August 8, 2026, governorship election seriously, warning them against apathy and the selling of their votes.

Catholic Bishop of Osogbo Diocese, John Oyejola, said God had already given humanity the capacity and responsibility to shape society, noting voting as one of the practical ways believers could renew the face of the earth.

“God will never come down to do for us that we can do for ourselves. He has given us the necessity, the propensity and the potential to make things happen. That is why He says we are the salt of the earth and the light of the world,” he said.

Oyejola, described voting as both a civic and moral obligation, warning that failure to vote by those who are eligible amounts to sin, while selling one’s PVC is an even greater moral failing.

INEC said the decision followed the release of the final list of candidates for the June 20, 2026, governorship election in Ekiti and the Electoral Act.

The REC in Ekiti, Bunmi Omoseyindemi, while addressing leaders of political parties and stakeholders in Ado-Ekiti, yesterday, announced that public campaigns would commence on January 21, 2026, and end at midnight on June 18, 2026, calling on political parties to strictly adhere to the approved campaign period and timelines, as well as shun hate campaign.

Omoseyindemi, who formally presented the final list of 12 governorship candidates and their running mates, stressed that the process was concluded following the conclusion of primaries, submission of nomination forms and the resolution of complaints arising from the nomination exercise, in line with the Electoral Act 2022.

He said that the publication of the final list signalled the beginning of a critical phase of the electioneering process, urging political actors to conduct their campaigns with maturity, restraint and strict adherence to the law.

The APC state Publicity Secretary, Segun Dipe, said the party would campaign on the governor’s record in governance, infrastructural development, workers’ welfare and political stability in the state, which he believed earned the governor widespread acceptance among Ekiti people.