The campaign organisation of Senator Ademola Adeleke has raised an urgent alarm regarding an alleged plan to declare the Osun gubernatorial election inconclusive. The alleged plan aimed at frustrating his victory in the ongoing Ademola Adeleke election process.
In a strongly worded press statement signed by Rep. Bamidele Salam, Chairman of the Media and Publicity Committee for the Imole Campaign Council, the organisation alleged that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) is facing severe pressure to stall the official declaration. The campaign stated that the manoeuvre represents a last-minute attempt to undermine the democratic express will of the people of Osun State.
APC Leaders Accused of Coordination and Sabotage
According to the Imole Campaign Council, key figures within the All Progressives Congress (APC) are actively coordinating the plot. The campaign council described the strategy as “evil and undemocratic”, directly intended to compromise what it termed an “imminent victory” for Senator Adeleke.
Rep. Salam reminded the INEC National Chairman of his public commitments to conduct a free, fair, and transparent poll. The statement stressed that all electoral actors must abide by basic democratic principles, adding that any attempt to alter the outcome through backroom manipulation will face resolute resistance from the electorate.
Pressure Mounts over INEC Collation Centre Security
With tension rising across the state, the campaign highlighted the immediate necessity for heightened INEC collation centre security to safeguard the integrity of the vote count. It called upon the Inspector-General of Police, the Director-General of the Department of State Services (DSS), and the Commandant-General of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) to deploy reinforced operational units without delay.
The campaign warned that armed hoodlums, allegedly hired to subvert the democratic process, pose a direct threat to collation officers and election materials. Protecting these critical points, the council noted, remains the only guarantee against orchestrated disruptions.
Reports of APC Ballot Hijacking Surface
Beyond structural threats at collation sites, the Adeleke campaign cited confirmed disruptions at the grassroots, pointing to All Progressives Congress ballot hijacking incidents across select polling areas.
“We note with sadness, the hijack of ballot boxes already recorded in a few polling units by these thugs and demand that perpetrators be arrested to face the full wrath of the Law,” the statement said.
The council maintained that allowing armed disruption to invalidate local returns forms part of the broader blueprint to force an inconclusive verdict.
Strategic Significance Ahead of the 2027 Elections
The campaign urged all institutions to respect President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s explicit directive that the electoral outcome must not be compromised in any manner. It observed that the situation in Osun carries significant weight for national stability, serving as a critical indicator for the upcoming 2027 general elections.
“We also remind the INEC, the APC and Security agencies of the directive of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to ensure that this election is not compromised in any form as it will serve as a litmus test for the 2027 General Election.
“We also call on the Inspector-General of Police, Director-General of the DSS, the Commandant-General of the Civil Defence and other Security agencies to immediately provide adequate security at all collation centres to prevent a subversion of the Osun Electoral process by hoodlums hired by the APC.
“We note with sadness, the hijack of ballot boxes already recorded in a few polling units by these thugs and demand that perpetrators be arrested to face the full wrath of the Law.
“Local and International observers are hereby invited to take note of this information and speak out on the side of the law and people of Osun State at this hour,” the statement partly reads.
Both domestic and international observer groups have been called upon to scrutinise the collation process closely and speak out against any institutional drift away from the rule of law.
