Non-partisan diaspora body to convene INEC, security chiefs, candidates and civil society for landmark accountability summit ahead of August governorship polls
OSOGBO, NIGERIA — 8 July 2026 — The Osun Development Association (ODA) has finalised arrangements to host the Osun 2026 Democratic Governance, Peace and Electoral Integrity Summit, a high-level civic intervention designed to steer the state’s political discourse toward issue-based campaigning and away from rising tension ahead of the August governorship election.
The Summit will hold on Thursday, 16 July 2026, at the Aurora Event Centre, Plot 6, New GRA, Osogbo, beginning at 10:00 a.m. prompt, under the theme “Speak, Choose, Hold Accountable: Citizens at the Centre of Osun’s Democracy.”
Convened by ODA’s Leadership and Governance Committee (LEAD-GOV), the Summit is a non-partisan response from the state’s elite diaspora and domestic civic community to recent reports of political violence, destruction of campaign materials, and personality-driven friction across Osun State.
“Osun State is at a critical democratic crossroads,” said Dr Tunji Olugbodi, Chairman of ODA’s LEAD-GOV Committee. “We believe our state can, and must, set a national benchmark for peaceful, credible, and development-driven elections. This Summit moves citizens from the periphery to the very centre of the democratic process, demanding institutional accountability from all political actors.”
The Summit will bring together a broad coalition of institutional stakeholders under a single framework, including:
- The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC)
- State Command heads of security agencies
- Registered political parties and their respective governorship candidates
- The Osun State Chapter of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) and Muslim Ummah leadership
- Traditional rulers, civil society organisations (CSOs), and professional bodies
- Youth and women’s advocacy groups, and the independent media corps
A centrepiece of the Summit will be the formal unveiling and signing of three institutional outputs designed to outlast the election cycle:
- The Osun 2026 Peace Charter a binding, public commitment by all political parties and candidates to non-violence and issue-led campaigning.
- The Governance Accountability Charter a comprehensive, crowdsourced document setting out citizen expectations for the incoming administration.
- The Summit Communiqué a policy document outlining frameworks for pre- and post-election stability, to be circulated nationwide.
To ensure compliance beyond the election, ODA working in alignment with the Transition Monitoring Group (TMG) will deploy a dedicated post-Summit monitoring and evaluation framework to track commitments made at the event over the three months following the August governorship election.
Dr Segun Aina, OFR, Chairman of ODA, noted that the collective participation of faith leaders, traditional institutions, and the independent press will supply the moral authority and public oversight required to preserve peace in the state.
Members of the press, civil society representatives, and invited corporate delegates are requested to complete accreditation with the LEAD-GOV Committee Secretariat on or before Friday, 10 July 2026, to secure entry passes and media protocols.
