Afrobeats singer David Adeleke, popularly known as Davido, has raised concerns over the pace of result uploads to the Independent National Electoral Commission’s Result Viewing Portal (IReV) during the Osun State governorship election on Saturday, August 15, 2026.

According to a report by PUNCH, Davido urged voters to monitor the electronic transmission of their polling-unit results and called for greater transparency in the process. His comments come as INEC relies heavily on BVAS and IReV to make polling-unit results available to the public.

Davido questioned the delay in the appearance of polling-unit results on IReV during the Osun governorship election.

In posts attributed to the singer on X, he expressed concern that results had not yet appeared on the portal by the time he raised the issue. He also encouraged voters to remain at their polling units and monitor the uploading of their result sheets.

PUNCH reported that Davido asked voters to ensure that the figures recorded on the physical EC8A result sheet were accurately entered on the electronic EC8A and uploaded through the electoral system.

He also encouraged voters to photograph their polling-unit result sheets and share the images through a WhatsApp contact provided in his post.

Another claim attributed to Davido concerned BVAS cameras. He reportedly suggested that where the main camera on a device was malfunctioning, officials could use the front camera.

Superior News could not independently verify the specific X posts or the quoted statements at the time of publication. They should therefore be treated as statements attributed to Davido rather than independently confirmed observations by Superior News.

However, the wider issue he raised—the transparency and timing of electronic result transmission—is directly relevant to INEC's stated procedure for the election.

The concern is important because IReV is intended to give voters, political parties, observers and the wider public access to polling-unit result sheets.

Ahead of the election, INEC said BVAS would be used not only for voter accreditation but also to upload polling-unit results to IReV. Osun's Resident Electoral Commissioner, Oluwatoyin Babalola, said INEC had prepared 3,763 BVAS devices for the state's polling units, with another 664 machines reserved as backups.

INEC Chairman Joash Amupitan also said in July that polling-unit EC8A result sheets would be scanned and uploaded directly from polling units to IReV.

That means delays or technical problems involving result transmission can quickly become a public confidence issue, particularly in a closely contested election.

It is important, however, to distinguish a delay in displaying a result on IReV from a change to the actual result recorded at a polling unit. An IReV upload issue does not by itself establish that votes have been altered or lost.

What is IReV?
IReV is INEC's Result Viewing Portal, through which polling-unit election result sheets can be made available for public viewing.

The system is designed to improve transparency by allowing members of the public and election stakeholders to examine polling-unit results rather than relying solely on later stages of the collation process.

What role does BVAS play?
BVAS is primarily used to authenticate voters through biometric verification. For the Osun election, INEC also said the devices would facilitate electronic transmission of polling-unit results to IReV.

Was INEC expecting to use electronic result transmission in Osun?
Yes. INEC repeatedly stated before the election that polling-unit results would be transmitted electronically to IReV.
In July, the commission said it had prepared 3,763 operational BVAS devices and 664 backup units for Osun.

Is a delay in IReV proof that the election result has been manipulated?
No.
A delayed upload can have several possible explanations, including connectivity, equipment, verification or backend processing issues. A delay alone is not evidence that votes have been manipulated.

Any allegation of electoral malpractice would require specific evidence.

Was there already concern about result transmission before election day?
Yes.
Yiaga Africa called on INEC in July to publish a clearer protocol explaining how election results move from the polling unit to IReV, including the responsibilities of officials and the expected duration of backend validation. The organisation also called for an independent assessment of the upgraded BVAS and IReV systems.

That makes the question of timely and understandable result transmission an issue that existed before Davido's comments.

The Osun election is being conducted with significant attention on electoral technology after INEC cited the performance of BVAS and IReV during the 2026 Ekiti governorship election.

INEC officials previously reported a 96 per cent BVAS functionality rate and a 98 per cent IReV result-upload rate during the Ekiti election. The commission said it expected the technology to perform strongly in Osun as well.

Civil society groups had also urged INEC to ensure timely and transparent result management, arguing that public confidence depends not only on voting but also on how results are handled after polling closes.

The issue is therefore broader than Davido's intervention. The central question is whether INEC's electronic result-management system operates as clearly and efficiently as the commission promised before the election.

Davido's interest in the Osun election also has a political dimension.
His uncle, Governor Ademola Adeleke, is seeking a second term as the Accord Party candidate. Adeleke formally joined Accord in December 2025 after leaving the Peoples Democratic Party and subsequently emerged as the party's governorship candidate.

The PDP's Osun chapter later adopted Adeleke for the election and directed its structures to support his re-election bid under the Accord platform.

Davido has publicly supported his uncle's political campaign, meaning his comments about election administration are coming from someone with a direct family connection to one of the candidates.

That does not by itself invalidate his concerns, but readers should consider the political context when assessing his statements.

The immediate focus will be on the completion of polling-unit result uploads, the collation of results and INEC's eventual declaration of the winner.

Any significant technical problem with BVAS or IReV will need to be addressed by INEC, while political parties, observers and voters can compare polling-unit result sheets with the information made available through the electoral process.

The specific claims attributed to Davido about the timing of IReV uploads and the use of BVAS cameras also remain subject to independent verification.

The controversy is ultimately about more than how quickly results appear online. The credibility of the Osun election will also depend on whether voters and political stakeholders can trace polling-unit results through the official collation process.

INEC had publicly committed to using BVAS and IReV to improve transparency. As results emerge, the key issue will be whether the commission's systems deliver that transparency consistently and whether any technical delays are properly explained.