Governor Ademola Adeleke of Accord Party took an early lead on Saturday as the Independent National Electoral Commission began collating results from the governorship election in Osun State.
A review of results uploaded on the INEC Result Viewing Portal indicated that Adeleke was leading other candidates in the provisional results.
On his trail was the candidate of the All Progressives Congress, Bola Oyebamiji, while candidate of the African Democratic Congress, Najeem Salaam, appeared to be coming a distant third.
As of the time of filing this report, INEC had uploaded 95 per cent of the results on IREV, with Adeleke leading in Osogbo, Oriade, Iwo, Ede South, Ife North, Ife East and Irepodun Local Government Areas of the state.
In Ife North, Adeleke is leading in 19 of the 111 polling units monitored by our correspondents.
Adeleke polled 2,043 votes, while APC’s Oyebamiji scored 1,386 votes; ADC’s Salaam polled 51 votes.
In Ipetumodu II Ward 7 of the council, Adeleke scored 841 votes, Oyebamiji polled 446 votes, Salaam scored 21 votes.
Adeleke extended his lead at Edunabon I Ward 2 of the LG, where results of seven out of 11 polling units were released, with 638 votes, while Oyebamiji polled 496 and Salaam scored 15 votes.
In Irepodun, Adeleke secured victory in three wards, while Oyebamiji secured victory in two wards.
Adeleke was leading in 28 units with a total of 2,510 votes, out of the 133 polling units released on IREV.
Adeleke was also leading in 31 of the 121 polling units, with Accord polling a total of 4,429 votes, while Oyebamiji scored 3,088.
Adeleke won at Baale Ward 2; Osolo/Oparin/Ola Ward; Oba Ojomu Ward 1; Faji/Opete Ward 4 and Asi/Asaba Ward 9.
For Ife East Local Government, which has 10 wards, DECENCY GLOBAL NEWS reports that on the collated results from Ilode II (Ward 3), Modakeke (Ward 10), Yekemi (Ward 7) and Ilode (Ward 2).
From the result, Adeleke led with 8,076 votes, followed by APC with 5,201 votes, while ADC had 234 votes.
In Oriade LGA, Adeleke polled 21,343 votes against Oyebamiji’s 14,863 votes, according to the INEC collation result signed by Dr Olabode Olajide.
Similarly, Adeleke won Osogbo LGA with 36,480 votes, while APC polled 30,474.
The governor cleared Iwo LGA after scoring 27,085 votes against APC’s 19,660.
In Ede South LGA, Adeleke recorded 26,188 votes to defeat Oyebamiji, who polled 6,219.
Oyinlola, Omisore, Aregbesola lose polling units
Oyinlola voted at Polling Unit 003, Ward 01, Court Hall 1, Okuku, in the Odo-Otin LGA, where Adeleke polled 125 against Oyebamiji’s 85 votes.
Top politicians in Osun State, however, suffered defeat in their polling units.
A former governor, Olagunsoye Oyinlola, who is supporting Oyebamiji, lost his polling unit to Adeleke.
Similarly, ex-governor Rauf Aregbesola, who is the leader of the ADC in the state, lost his polling unit to the APC after a brief disruption of the voting process at his Unit 1, Ifofin Ward 8 in Ilesa East LGA of the state.
In the result obtained by DECENCY GLOBAL NEWS , APC got 256, while ADC polled 13, with Accord polling 43 votes.
At Ward 1, Unit 2, Ibokun NUD Primary School, Obokun LGA, where the National Treasurer of the Peoples Democratic Party, Diran Odeyemi, voted, Accord Party got 211, while APC polled 178 votes.
Also, the former National Secretary of the APC, Iyiola Omisore, lost his polling unit 003, Ife Ward 1 (Moore), St. Gabriel Primary School, in Ife East Local Government Area to Adeleke.
Adeleke secured 131 votes, while Oyebaimiji came second with 85 votes.
Naira rain at polling units
Vote-buying was reported in many of the polling units across the state.
DECENCY GLOBAL NEWS gathered that one of the political parties sent N5m to each of the polling units, giving out a minimum of N20,000 per voter.
Apart from the polling unit funds, the party allegedly gave between N2m and N5m to top security officers in each of the LGAs, with the Divisional Police Officer receiving the least.
This was as the Centre for Journalism Innovation and Development said it received reports that N50,000 was given to each voter in some polling units in Ilesa East Local Government Area of the state.
The centre also said security personnel were implicated in the vote-buying incident, as they allegedly received cash from a certain political party in Ayedaade and Ife North local governments.
At Polling Unit 13, Orinayon, Ward 4 in Ejigbo Local Government, some bundles of cash were seized from an agent of a party buying votes in the area.
A viral video seen by DECENCY GLOBAL NEWS also showed some voters confronting a party’s agent with bundles of cash allegedly for vote-buying at Polling Unit 11, Ward 8, in Olorunda Local Government Area of the state.
There was also a report of vote-buying at Ward 11, Unit 17, Oke-Baale, Osogbo, as a party allegedly paid each of the voters a sum of N25,000.
BVAS failure
Another incident recorded in the poll was BVAS glitches in some of the polling units, including that of the Deputy Governor, Kola Adewusi’s polling unit 001, Ilode Ward 1 (Ilode I), Enuwa Square, Palace Frontage, Ile-Ife, in Ife East Local Government Area of the state.
Adewusi, while addressing journalists after casting his vote, lamented that BVAS malfunctioned and slowed down the voting process at his unit, frustrating many voters from casting their ballots.
“Election was going well until the BVAS started malfunctioning and started giving issues and it slowed down the process, leaving many persons not voting,” he said.
Also, a former Minister of State for Police Affairs, Jelili Adesiyan, lamented the slow performance of BVAS at his Polling Unit 8, Ward 6, Lagere Idiose, Ode Omu in Ayedaade LGA of the state.
“In this place, we have almost 1,000 people who registered. There are some of our elderly people who are here. The BVAS is not capturing some of them,” he said.
Similarly, CJID confirmed BVAS failures at polling units in Egbedore, Ife Central, Ilesa West, Ifedayo, Ifelodun, Oriade and Ilesa East LGAs of the state.
A non-governmental organisation, Kimpact Development Initiative, also raised concerns over some challenges recorded during the poll, including delays in the arrival of election officials, BVAS malfunctions and isolated incidents of violence.
In its preliminary assessment, the organisation said it deployed 370 observers to monitor activities at 1,660 polling units spread across the state’s 30 LGAs.
According to KDI, 43 per cent of the polling units monitored experienced delays in the arrival of INEC officials, affecting the timely commencement of voting in some locations.
Beyond technical and logistical challenges, KDI said its observers documented 19 suspected cases of vote trading.
The organisation also recorded 17 incidents involving alleged interference by party agents, while seven cases were linked to security personnel.
Similarly, the Imole Campaign Council expressed dissatisfaction with ‘multiple complaints’ of BVAS failure in many of the polling units.
According to the spokesman for the Imole Campaign Council, Pelumi Olajengbesi, the BVAS failures were recorded at Adeleke’s strongholds.
Violence, intimidation, gunshots
Violence and intimidation of voters were recorded in the election, as ballot boxes were reportedly snatched as thugs disrupted voting in some polling units.
There was pandemonium at Salvation Army High School, Osogbo, which serves as Ward 5 collation centre, as gunmen trailing a bus bringing INEC ad hoc staff members shot into the waiting crowd.
In the attack, a man was shot in the chest and rushed out of the premises on a motorcycle.
One of our correspondents who was close to the scene reported that the incident happened some minutes past 7pm while collation officers were counting the votes for Unit 17.
An eyewitness, identified simply as Kola, said, “The attackers trailed a bus bringing the ad hoc staff and ballots to the collation centre. As soon as the driver of the bus drove in, they started shooting and attempted to hijack the ballot boxes, but they did not succeed.”
Also, at Ward 6, Units 5 and 6, Ikirun, Ifelodun LGA, gunshots were fired following a disagreement among party agents.
DECENCY GLOBAL NEWS gathered that counting of votes had been concluded, but a particular party agent demanded a recount.
“While the recount was on, another disagreement broke out and gunshots were fired. Police had to fire canisters to disperse those gathered there. That was the end of the exercise there,” an eyewitness said.
Suspected gunmen also attacked Olorunda Ward 8 collation centre in Adenle High School, Osogbo.
But as of the time one of our correspondents arrived at the scene, soldiers had taken over the premises, while ad hoc staff at the collation centre were evacuated to Olorunda INEC office.
DECENCY GLOBAL NEWS gathered that armed political thugs attacked Polling Unit 013 of the candidate of the ADC at Ward 4, Ejigbo, in Ejigbo LGA.
Salaam was reportedly whisked away from the scene by supporters, just as journalists at the polling unit were reportedly attacked, bringing the voting to an abrupt end.
Vehicles and election materials were vandalised in the incident, which Salaam described as an attempt on his life by the ADC.
In a related development, a suspected political thug reportedly snatched a ballot box in Iree, Boripe LGA.
However, one of the thugs was apprehended with a gun and axe by voters present at the polling unit.
In Ikire, a chieftain of the APC, Mrs Funmi Hasstrup, was seen in a viral video threatening people at a polling unit not to vote for any other candidate except Oyebamiji.
She was heard and seen in the video saying, “You won’t go scot-free if you don’t vote for AMBO.”
Similarly, the senator representing Osun East Senatorial District, Francis Fadahunsi, was seen dropping a subtle threat as he directed his aides to monitor the candidate every voter was voting for.
“Monitor their vote…anybody who didn’t vote correctly (for the APC candidate) is not from Ilase,” he said in a viral video seen by DECENCY GLOBAL NEWS.
This was as INEC officials and voters were reportedly tear-gassed by the police at a registration centre in Ward 10, Modakeke, Ife East LGA of the state.
DECENCY GLOBAL NEWS gathered that there was an attempt by armed political thugs to snatch a ballot box at Unit 2, Ward 2, around Golf Junction, Osogbo LGA.
An eyewitness, Abiodun Agboola, told our correspondent that the hoodlums were shooting sporadically in an attempt to scare people away and snatch the ballot box.
“They were about 15 thugs approaching the polling unit. But the people were not afraid; and the police came on time to protect the ballot,” he added.
Violence: APC, ADC, Accord trade blame
However, the APC, ADC and Accord have all condemned the violence and ballot box-snatching incidents, even as the two main opposition parties pointed accusing fingers at each other.
While the APC accused Accord of sponsoring thugs to hijack the ballot boxes, the ruling party said the APC was responsible for the violence.
The ADC demanded the cancellation of the exercise in some areas over irregularities.
The APC, in a statement by its Director of Media and Information, Kola Olabisi, condemned the snatching of a ballot box at the Gulf Unit of Ward 5 in Osogbo.
Olabisi stated, “It was learnt that the political thugs invaded the Gulf Unit in quite a large number of motorcycles, fully armed with guns, while voting was ongoing and shot into the air to disperse the voters and subsequently snatched the ballot box full of already thumb-printed ballot papers.
“We vehemently condemn the snatching of the ballot box by the Accord hoodlums, which was an anti-democratic development carried out to deny the electorate their fundamental right to exercise their civic responsibility of voting for the candidate of their choice.
“We urge INEC to take political and administrative notice of the sad development, which is antithetical to democratic culture in all climes.”
Speaking in a statement signed by the spokesperson for its campaign organisation, Nurein Adebisi, ADC rejected the poll, describing it as a sham.
The ADC alleged that voters were attacked, chased away and their phones seized to prevent documentation of the crimes.
The party called on INEC to “immediately suspend further collation and cancel results from all affected areas, including Ikire, Iree, Ilesa, Ejigbo, and all other polling units where violence and vote-buying occurred.
“What is happening across Osun State is not an election, but a deliberate and coordinated assault on democracy and the sovereign will of the people.
“Agents of the APC were seen openly inducing voters with cash and food items right in front of security personnel. There are coordinated attempts to suppress results from ADC strongholds and to alter figures at collation centres in favour of the APC.”
Meanwhile, Adeleke decried what he called “sheer abuse of law enforcement” to intimidate supporters.
Adeleke, in a statement by his Chief Press Secretary, Olawale Rasheed, condemned the arrest of a PDP member, Sunday Bisi, in his house after he voted, describing it as barbaric and a vicious attack on free will.
“This latest sweep on my supporters, I have authoritatively learnt, is part of a broader plan to give the APC unhindered access to change results at collation centres and upturn our wins at the poll. This is the biggest assault on democracy, and I urge everyone involved in this desperate attempt to upturn the will of our people through the use of state institutions.”
On his part, the Director General of Imole Campaign Council, Lere Oyewumi, described the conduct of the governorship election in Irewole LGA as pathetic.
Oyewumi alleged that suspected thugs disrupted voting and attacked agents of Accord in polling units across the local government.
The Accord campaign DG, who spoke with journalists at Ikire after monitoring the poll, lamented that voters, who earlier in the day trooped out in large numbers, fled when violence erupted.
