AAC candidate Olajide Esan alleges vote-buying aided Ademola Adeleke’s Osun victory and says poverty is distorting voters’ choices
African Action Congress governorship candidate Olajide Esan on Wednesday, August 19, 2026, in an interview with ARISE NEWS, alleged that Osun State Governor Ademola Adeleke secured re-election through financial inducement and vote-buying rather than the strength of his administration’s policies.
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Esan said the allegation was not directed at Adeleke’s political camp alone, arguing that inducement was a wider feature of the August 15 governorship election.
“Adeleke won the election, not really based on what he has to offer, but the capacity to promote inducement,” Esan said.
The AAC candidate also alleged that the All Progressives Congress and Accord Party were involved in vote-buying, suggesting that the practice extended across the major political camps.
His comments come days after the Independent National Electoral Commission declared Adeleke the winner of the election.
Adeleke, who contested on the Accord Party platform, polled 511,067 votes, defeating his closest rival, APC candidate Bola Oyebamiji.
The result secured Adeleke another term as governor after his earlier victory in the 2022 election.
Following the declaration, supporters of the governor celebrated the outcome, while members of the opposition continued to debate the conduct and credibility of the poll.
Esan’s criticism focused heavily on the economic circumstances facing voters.
He argued that widespread hardship had made immediate financial assistance more attractive to some voters than long-term policy proposals.
“So it’s kind of, I say, like Nigerians are trapped because they are not really voting for who they want, but they are voting for who can, you know, buy their food,” he said.
The allegation comes against a backdrop of concerns raised by election observers about inducement during the Osun poll.
The Nigeria Civil Society Situation Room reported instances of alleged vote-buying, as well as the distribution of food and drinks to voters in some locations.
The group also reported logistical difficulties at some polling units, including delays linked to BVAS deployment and technical problems.
At one polling unit in Ila-Orangun, more than 1,100 registered voters were reportedly served by a single BVAS device.
However, the concerns raised by observers do not by themselves establish that Adeleke’s victory was secured through vote-buying.
Esan’s claim remains an allegation, and the governor’s camp has maintained that his victory reflected the choice of Osun voters.
The Imole Campaign Council spokesperson, Pelumi Olajengbesi, described the election as credible, free and fair and commended President Bola Tinubu for supporting a peaceful process.
Esan also questioned the development priorities of the Adeleke administration. He argued that human capital development should receive greater attention than what he described as “kangaroo projects”.
“If you really understand what standard is all about, a great leader has to take human capital development seriously,” Esan said.
He maintained that government spending should ultimately be judged by its effect on residents rather than by the number of projects announced or completed.
For Esan, the result also exposed what he sees as a deeper weakness in Nigeria’s electoral system.
He said the economic vulnerability of voters could make elections less about competing ideas and more about immediate survival.
“I wouldn’t say I’m satisfied with the outcome because the way elections have been in this country doesn’t really reflect the will of the people,” he said.
Despite his defeat, Esan has indicated that the AAC intends to remain politically active in Osun.
Earlier in the week, he said his political movement would return stronger after the election, suggesting that the result would not end his involvement in the state’s politics.
The controversy surrounding the election is therefore likely to extend beyond the result itself, with questions about vote-buying, economic hardship, voter education and the quality of political competition remaining central to the post-election debate.
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For now, Adeleke retains the mandate announced by INEC, while Esan’s vote-buying allegation adds another critical voice to the continuing assessment of how the 2026 Osun election was won and what the result means for the state’s political future.
