Osun State Governor, Ademola Adeleke, has cast his ballot in the ongoing governorship election before raising a fresh and explosive alarm over an alleged plot to disrupt the exercise, accusing the All Progressives Congress (APC) of allegedly bringing a police officer from Port Harcourt into the state to interfere with the election.
Adeleke cast his vote at Unit 009, Ward 2, Ede North Local Government Area, shortly before making the allegations and calling on the Inspector-General of Police and other security agencies to urgently pay attention to developments across the state.
The governor specifically identified a police officer he described as “London,” whom he alleged was brought from Port Harcourt to Osun State to “disorganise the vote.”
“It’s going well and I hope it continues like that but I got some information from my people in Osun State. There is one Police officer called London from Port Harcourt, they brought him to come and disorganise the vote, so I am calling on the Inspector General of Police and all the security agents to watch out and be on the lookout,” Adeleke said.
The governor further alleged that the officer was brought into Osun by the APC as part of an alleged plan to interfere with the election, particularly in Ede, his hometown.
“The APC in Osun brought him to come and destroy my town,” Adeleke alleged, urging the Police Commissioner, the DIG overseeing the election and residents of Ede to remain vigilant.
Adeleke also raised concerns over what he described as an alleged attempt to bypass the established procedure for the collation of election results.
According to the governor, information available to him suggested that there was a plan to avoid the normal sequence of moving results from polling units to wards and then local government areas, allegedly taking them directly to a collation centre.
“I have it on authority of information that they don’t want to go through the normal process of from units to wards and to local government, they just want to take it all the way to the collation centre and that is not acceptable,” he said.
The governor insisted that all electoral rules must be followed and urged security agencies to prevent any attempt to manipulate or circumvent the process.
“They must follow the rules and that’s why I am alerting my people to watch out,” Adeleke added.
Despite the allegations, Adeleke expressed confidence that he would emerge victorious in the election.
“I know by the special grace of God that I am winning this election,” he declared.
The governor’s warning comes against the backdrop of heightened political tension in Osun, where the governorship contest has attracted intense competition among the major political parties.
Political stakeholders have continued to raise concerns over alleged intimidation, violence and attempts to manipulate the electoral process, placing the activities of security agencies and electoral officials under increased scrutiny.
Adeleke urged the security agencies to ensure that voters, electoral officials and party agents are allowed to participate in the process without intimidation or interference.
He specifically called on the police hierarchy to monitor the conduct of security personnel and ensure that the established procedures for voting and collation are respected.
The governor also appealed to residents of Ede to remain vigilant and report any suspicious development that could threaten the peaceful conduct of the election.
Adeleke’s allegations had not been independently verified at the time of filing this report, while the APC and police authorities had yet to publicly respond to his specific claims.
The development is expected to further intensify scrutiny of the election as voting progresses and attention gradually shifts towards the collation of results.
The outcome of the election will ultimately depend on the votes cast across the state and the lawful collation and declaration of the results by the relevant electoral authorities.