Osun poll Adeleke APC clash intensifies as rival camps trade alarming claims over police neutrality, violence and alleged voter suppression.
Osun State Governor Ademola Adeleke and the All Progressives Congress (APC) have intensified their political clash over allegations of police interference, electoral intimidation and a possible attempt to disrupt voting ahead of Saturday’s 15 August governorship election.
Also read: Atiku, David Mark Rally Support for ADC in Osun
The latest confrontation followed separate statements issued on Monday by the Imole Campaign Council (TICC), which is backing Adeleke’s re-election on the Accord Party platform, and the Osun APC Governorship Campaign Council.
The competing claims come at a particularly sensitive point in the election timetable, with voters less than a week away from choosing between Adeleke and APC candidate Bola Oyebamiji, alongside other candidates in the race.
INEC has confirmed 15 August as the date of the Osun governorship election after revising the original timetable.
The TICC accused the police of selective enforcement and alleged that security operations were being used to intimidate political opponents.
The campaign council also alleged that several of its members had been killed and others injured during political violence.
“It is nothing but mischief for the APC that has unleashed unimaginable violence on Osun people, killing no fewer than six of our members, to turn around to blame the victim,” the campaign council said.
The council further alleged that more than 60 Accord Party members had been arrested and accused security personnel of treating members of rival political camps differently.
The TICC also referred to a video circulating online which it said appeared to show a police operative handing a firearm to a suspected political thug in Ilesa. The allegation has not been independently established in the reporting reviewed for this article.
The campaign council called on Inspector-General of Police Olatunji Disu to intervene and ensure what it described as neutral policing before and during the election.
The police controversy is not entirely new. In June, civil society organisations and student groups staged a protest in Osogbo and called for the removal of Osun Commissioner of Police Ibrahim Gotan, citing concerns about alleged partiality and the force’s handling of politically motivated attacks.
The Nigeria Police Force currently lists Ibrahim Gotan as the Commissioner of Police for Osun State.
The police have also attempted to bring political actors together. In June, Gotan convened a stakeholders’ meeting involving security agencies, INEC and political parties after a series of reported killings and attacks.
At the meeting, he warned political actors against destroying or defacing opponents’ campaign materials and pledged stronger efforts to contain violence.
Beyond the police dispute, the TICC raised another serious allegation on Monday, claiming that the APC was pressuring the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to end voting at noon in selected local government areas regarded as Adeleke strongholds.
The campaign council said such a move would disenfranchise eligible voters if polling units were closed while voters who had arrived within the authorised voting period were still waiting to cast their ballots.
No evidence establishing such a plan has been publicly demonstrated in the sources reviewed. The allegation therefore remains a claim by the Adeleke campaign rather than an established electoral decision or directive.
INEC has repeatedly said that it remains committed to a free, fair and credible election. The commission’s official election schedule confirms that the Osun governorship poll will take place on Saturday, 15 August.
The APC has rejected the allegations from Adeleke’s camp and instead accused the governor and the Accord Party of attempting to discredit the police through a planned protest.
According to the APC campaign council, some women were allegedly recruited to demonstrate at the Osun State Police Command headquarters in Osogbo, with the party claiming that some had been instructed to protest half-naked.
The APC described the alleged plan as a “preplanned, highly provocative plot” and said security agencies should remain professional while investigating suspected cases of electoral violence.
The party also urged its supporters to remain calm and law-abiding as the state moves towards polling day.
The competing accusations come against a broader backdrop of rising concern over political violence in Osun.
An election observation coalition backed by the European Union identified 13 of the state’s 30 local government areas as high-risk areas in late July, citing politically motivated killings, violent attacks and heightened political tensions.
The coalition also raised concerns about public confidence in police neutrality.
The security concerns have included allegations and counter-allegations surrounding attacks on campaign offices and political supporters.
In May, Accord alleged that armed men attacked Governor Adeleke’s campaign office in Osogbo, describing it as the second such assault within two weeks.
The pre-election atmosphere has also been marked by reports of deadly violence. Premium Times reported in June that a 14-year-old boy was shot dead in Ilobu, Irepodun Local Government Area, amid allegations of politically linked violence.
The police confirmed the teenager’s death and said people named in connection with the incident had become persons of interest, while individuals accused of involvement denied the allegations.
Those developments have made the question of security particularly consequential as the election approaches.
Any perception that security agencies are favouring one political camp could further undermine public confidence in the process, even where individual allegations remain unproven.
The political stakes are also unusually high. Adeleke, who left the Peoples Democratic Party and joined Accord in late 2025, is seeking a second term.
Oyebamiji is leading the APC challenge, while other parties are also contesting the governorship.
The APC has projected confidence in its chances, with its national chairman, Nentawe Yilwatda, describing the party’s political machinery as capable of defeating Adeleke.
The governor’s campaign council has rejected that confidence and predicted a heavy APC defeat.
The rhetoric has consequently become sharper as election day draws closer, but the immediate concern extends beyond which candidate wins.
Political parties, security agencies, election officials and observers face the more fundamental task of ensuring that eligible voters can reach polling units safely and cast their ballots without intimidation.
For INEC, the challenge will be to maintain clear and consistent procedures.
For the police and other security agencies, neutrality will be judged not only by official statements but also by how arrests, investigations and deployments are handled across competing political camps.
For the candidates and their supporters, the coming days will test whether increasingly heated political competition can remain within democratic boundaries.
With just five days before the 15 August poll, the allegations from Adeleke’s camp and the APC remain contested.
Also read: Kenneth Okonkwo Predicts Tinubu’s Defeat in 2027
Neither side has established the other’s claims as fact, making restraint, transparent investigations and credible election-day security especially important in a state already carrying the weight of recent political violence.
