Osun-Osogbo festival: Traditionalists ask INEC to reschedule Osun gov poll

The leadership of the Traditional Religion Worshippers Association of Osun State has demanded a shift in the date fixed for the next governorship election in the state.

The traditionalists said the election should be rescheduled because the date, as currently fixed, would clash with the annual Osun-Osogbo Cultural Festival.

The association, in a letter addressed to the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) dated January 20, 2026, and signed by its President and Secretary, Dr Oluseyi Atanda and Chief Ifasola Onifade, stated that activities for the Osun-Osogbo Festival would commence on July 27 and end with the grand finale on August 7, a day before the governorship poll.

TRWASO further explained in the letter, a copy of which was obtained in Osogbo on Tuesday, that the dates for the festival had been prefixed and calculated traditionally in harmony with other festivals and spiritual rites.

“We are aware that the election date in Osun State has been fixed for Saturday, August 8, 2026. However, as a religious body, we are asking for the shifting of the said date. We want to bring it to your notice that the Osun-Osogbo Festival shall be coming up that same week.

“The Osun-Osogbo Festival is currently the largest crowd-pulling festival in Nigeria. By custom, Friday, August 7, 2026, is the grand finale of the festival, and activities on that day will not end until about 6:00 pm, after the Arugba retires back to the palace,” the letter read.

The group said holding the governorship election a day after the grand finale “may pose security risks because there are bound to be restrictions of movement on Friday, which may be very difficult and challenging to enforce due to travellers from within Nigeria and outside the country, especially those coming from abroad.

“We want you to know that politicians may want to take advantage of the crowd to cause mayhem in view of the election coming up the following day.

“It is our fundamental right to protect the sacredness of our spiritual festival.”

Recalling how the presidential election won by the late President Muhammadu Buhari was shifted from February 14 to March 28, 2015, due to security reasons, the traditionalists subsequently sought a “shift in date of the coming election in Osun State.”

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Osun State is scheduled to go to the polls on August 8, 2026, to elect a governor.

The incumbent governor, Ademola Adeleke, running on the platform of the Accord Party, is expected to face candidates of other political parties, including the Peoples Democratic Party, All Progressives Congress and the African Democratic Congress, in the election.