Voting in the Osun State governorship election was largely peaceful and orderly across the Osun West Senatorial District on Saturday, with voters turning out early in large numbers, although isolated incidents of violence were reported in Ejigbo.
In several polling units visited, voters arrived as early as 7:00 a.m., with long queues stretching towards adjoining roads as electorate waited to cast their ballots.
At Ogooluwa Kitan 1, voters were already at the polling unit by 7:00 a.m., while Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) officials arrived at about 7:18 a.m. to commence preparations for the exercise.
A similar situation was observed at Orisunbare Village, Polling Unit 001, Area Code 005, in Ede South Local Government Area, where voters sat patiently while INEC officials displayed materials and information required for the election.
At Alajiwe 1, Polling Unit 009, voters were also seen waiting for the arrival and completion of preparations by INEC ad-hoc personnel.
Despite restrictions on movement, some residents were seen moving around, while a few people also drove through the streets in their private vehicles.
An elderly voter in his early 80s, who spoke on the large turnout, dismissed suggestions that voters had been financially induced to come out early.
“No one gave us any money. We decided to come out this way, and as early as it is, to cast our votes for Governor Ademola Adeleke. He is our son and we want him to win a second time,” he said.
The exercise was generally peaceful in many polling centres visited in Ede, with police and military personnel patrolling the streets and maintaining security.
Governor Ademola Adeleke cast his ballot at about 8:32 a.m. at Unit 9, Ward 2, in Ede North Local Government Area, after arriving at the polling unit shortly before the scheduled 8:30 a.m. commencement of voting.
Shortly after voting, Adeleke raised an alarm over an alleged plot to disrupt the exercise in Ede, calling on the Inspector-General of Police and other security agencies to investigate the allegation.
The governor alleged that a police officer identified as “London”, said to have been deployed from Port Harcourt, was brought into Osun to disrupt voting in Ede.
“I want to raise alarm over the presence of one police officer, from Port Harcourt, simply identified as London, to disrupt voting in Ede, his country home,” Adeleke said.
He urged the IGP, the police commissioner responsible for the election, the DIG overseeing the exercise and other security agencies to take note of the allegation and act accordingly.
“I understand that the APC brought him to Osun State to carry out a hatchet job and cause disruption in my town, Ede, so that people will not be able to vote,” he alleged.
Adeleke also alleged that there was an attempt to bypass the prescribed collation process by moving results directly from polling units to the main collation centre instead of following the ward and local government stages.
“I also have it on good authority that they do not want to follow the normal process of moving from the polling units to the wards and then to the local governments. Instead, they want to take the process straight to the collation centre.
“This is not acceptable. They must follow the rules, and that is why I am alerting my people to watch out,” he said.
Meanwhile, the APC governorship candidate, Asiwaju Munirudeen Bola Oyebamiji, commended the peaceful conduct of voters, INEC officials and security personnel at his polling unit.
Oyebamiji, who voted at Ward 9 in Irewole Local Government Area at about 10:42 a.m., said the process was proceeding peacefully.
“I have just voted and I can see that people came out here. Every process is going peacefully. The INEC officials are here, the voters are here, the police are here and the security operatives are here,” he said.
The APC candidate said reports reaching him from other polling units indicated that the election was generally peaceful, although security personnel had intervened in some locations where attempts were allegedly made to cause disturbances.
“From the information we have received so far, everything is going on well. The election is going peacefully. INEC is doing its job, and at the same time, the security people are attending to one or two places where some people want to cause trouble,” he said.
Oyebamiji urged voters and other stakeholders to remain peaceful throughout the exercise, particularly against the backdrop of concerns over possible violence.
Asked about reports that a lawmaker had been arrested with machine guns, he declined to comment, saying security agencies were responsible for handling such matters.
On his expectation from the election, the APC candidate said, “My expectation is that I’m going to party today.”
His wife, Dr. Sekinah Oyebamiji, also commended the voter turnout and the conduct of INEC officials after casting her ballot at Polling Unit 003, Ward 9, AUD Primary School, Atile, in Irewole Local Government Area.
“The voters’ turnout is quite impressive. The INEC officials are conducting themselves professionally. There are police officers around.
“I think the process is good so far. The expectation is that Asiwaju Munirudeen Bola Oyebamiji will carry the day,” she said.
However, the relative calm was disrupted in Ejigbo, where violence reportedly broke out at a polling unit, forcing voters, residents and INEC officials to flee.
The incident reportedly began after a youth discovered materials allegedly linked to vote-buying and said to be associated with the APC. The situation reportedly escalated when individuals allegedly linked to the materials arrived and attempted to take the youth away.
Video footage from the scene showed residents running in different directions as motorcycles and vehicles moved through the area amid the confusion.
It was not immediately clear whether anyone was injured.
There were also reports of an alleged assassination attempt on the African Democratic Congress (ADC) governorship candidate, Hon. Najeem Salaam, at his polling unit in Ward 4, Unit 13, Ejigbo Local Government Area.
An individual identified as “Big Hammer” was alleged to have led the attack, while one of the suspected assailants was reportedly arrested.
The allegations could not be independently confirmed at the time of filing this report.
Following the reported incident, voting was allegedly disrupted at the polling unit as attackers were said to have chased voters away and interfered with election materials.
The development has raised concerns over the safety of voters, candidates and electoral officials as voting continues across Osun State.
