Osun Election: Adeleke Leads as INEC Completes Collation Amid Violence, Vote-Buying Allegations

Residents of Osun State have voted to elect the next governor of the state, with incumbent Governor Ademola Adelekemaintaining a lead over his major challenger, Bola Oyebamiji of the All Progressives Congress, APC, as the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, concludes the collation of results.

The election has largely been a two-horse contest between Adeleke of the Accord Party and Oyebamiji of the APC.

The State Returning Officer, Professor Joshua Ogunwole, Vice-Chancellor of the Federal University, Oye-Ekiti, is announcing results from the various polling units as the final collation continues.

At the time of filing the report, INEC had uploaded about 95 per cent of the results to its IReV portal. Adeleke was leading in 19 local government areas, while Oyebamiji had won 11 LGAs.

The election recorded significant voter turnout across the state, although the exercise was accompanied by reports of security concerns, alleged voter intimidation, vote buying and ballot box snatching in some locations.

There were also complaints about the failure and slow performance of the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System, BVAS, with the issues delaying voting at several polling units.

A professor, Olayinka Ajala, was among voters affected by BVAS authentication problems at Unit 10, Ward 10, Community Primary School, Oke-Ola 2, Mayfair Roundabout, in Ife East Local Government Area.

Ajala said the device failed to recognise his face or capture his fingerprint despite several attempts by electoral officials.

He described the voting process at his polling unit as peaceful, however, and said the number of voters affected by the authentication problem appeared relatively small compared with the total number of voters at the location.

The Imole Campaign Council, TICC, also raised concerns over alleged BVAS failures in several polling units across the state. Its spokesman, Pelumi Olajengbesi, claimed that some of the affected areas were strongholds of the Accord Party.

The election was also accompanied by allegations of vote buying.

Some voters in Ejigbo Local Government Area were captured in a viral video protesting an alleged vote-buying operation involving a political party.

The voters claimed they alerted security operatives but alleged that the personnel were reluctant to intervene. The situation reportedly led to a confrontation among some of the voters.

DAILY POST also reported allegations that both the APC and Accord Party offered voters between N10,000 and N20,000 in some areas.

Some voters further alleged that the practice started several days before the election, with party agents allegedly collecting voters’ bank account details ahead of the poll and promising to make payments after they voted.

Tension also emerged in Osogbo on Saturday night following sporadic gunshots at the premises of Union Baptist Primary School, where the Ataoja D Ward 4 collation centre is located.

The shooting, reportedly involving security personnel, caused some residents to flee the area.

The immediate cause of the shooting remained unclear, although there were reports of an attempted ballot box snatching by suspected thugs.

A former APC vice chairman in Ede South Local Government was also reportedly arrested over an alleged attempt to snatch ballot boxes at a ward collation centre.

In another incident, a woman was reportedly arrested at an INEC facility in Ifelodun with ballot papers bearing thumb-printed votes but allegedly lacking the required INEC stamps.

A video circulating online showed the incident after the original results had reportedly been collated and uploaded to the IReV portal.

There were also allegations of voter intimidation involving politicians.

Senator Francis Fadahunsi, representing Osun East, was captured in a video circulating on social media in which he was allegedly seen threatening voters at his polling unit in the presence of a police officer.

Security agencies also arrested several people over alleged electoral offences and violence.

Force spokesperson Anietie Iniedu told journalists during the election that security operatives had conducted an operation at the residence of a political stakeholder, where hundreds of people were reportedly found.

“We have made arrests at a political stakeholder’s residence, where we located 300 unaccounted-for persons,” Iniedu said.

Security operatives also reportedly arrested Hon. Abiola Ibrahim, a member of the Osun State House of Assembly representing Irewole-Isokan Constituency.

He was allegedly found with more than 140 people described as non-citizens who were reportedly being kept in the state for participation in the election.

The alleged voters were reportedly found with newly issued Permanent Voter Cards, raising concerns over possible attempts to influence the election.

Meanwhile, the Osun State PDP Chairman, Sunday Bisi, was also reportedly arrested by police operatives.

The reason for his arrest was not immediately disclosed.

Governor Adeleke subsequently demanded his immediate release, describing the arrest as part of what he alleged was an attempt to intimidate his supporters and interfere with the collation process.

Despite the reported incidents, collation of results has continued across the state, with Adeleke maintaining a lead as INEC moves towards announcing the final outcome of the election.