Osun Poll: Tension Mounts After PVC Centre Raid
Barely three weeks to the Osun State governorship election, an armed attack on officials of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in Odo Otin Local Government Area has sharpened concerns over security and the credibility of the electoral process in the state.
The Osun State Police Command confirmed that about ten suspected hoodlums stormed a Permanent Voter Card (PVC) distribution centre at Oyinlola DC Primary School, Ward 2, in Okuku, headquarters of Odo Otin, on Sunday, firing sporadically into the air before making away with three packs of the cards. The command’s spokesperson, DSP Abiodun Ojelabi, said in a statement issued in Osogbo that the Commissioner of Police, Ibrahim Gotan, had condemned the incident and ordered a full investigation.
“Tactical and intelligence assets have been deployed, and efforts have been intensified to apprehend the perpetrators and recover the stolen PVCs,” Ojelabi said. He urged residents to remain calm and warned that anyone exploiting the incident to foment violence would be dealt with according to law. The command added that normalcy had been restored in Ile Ife after suspected thugs became unruly around the Mayfair Garage area.
INEC’s Resident Electoral Commissioner in the state, Oluwatoyin Babalola, condemned the attack, saying she was still awaiting a detailed report and could not immediately confirm the exact number of cards carted away. She restated the commission’s commitment to a free, fair, credible and transparent poll.
The incident has drawn familiar political finger pointing. The Speaker of the Osun State House of Assembly, Adewale Egbedun, in a statement by his Chief Press Secretary, Olamide Tiamiyu, described the raid as an attack on democracy and alleged that the hoodlums were affiliated with the All Progressives Congress (APC), demanding an impartial probe. The Odo Otin APC Progressive Youth rejected the claim in a separate statement, insisting the incident instead pointed to desperation within the Accord Party. The Accord Party has also alleged harassment of its members by security operatives, a claim the police have denied.
The clash of narratives reflects rising temperature ahead of the August 15 contest, which INEC shifted from an earlier date of August 8. Governor Ademola Adeleke, who won office in 2022 on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), is seeking a second term under the Accord Party, with the PDP fielding no candidate. His main challenger is the APC’s Munirudeen Bola Oyebamiji, managing director of the National Inland Waterways Authority. The African Democratic Congress, rebuilt around former governor Rauf Aregbesola, and smaller parties, including the New Nigeria Peoples Party and African Action Congress, are also in the race.
The stakes are heightened by an expanded electorate. INEC figures show registered voters in Osun rose from 1,955,657 in 2022 to 2,339,233 in 2026, an increase of about 384,433, or roughly 20 percent, spread across 3,763 polling units in 30 local government areas. Yet turnout has remained a weakness. The 2022 election, in which Adeleke polled 403,371 votes against then governor Gboyega Oyetola’s 375,027, recorded a turnout of about 42 percent, the lowest in the state’s history, even as PVC collection reached 1,518,303.
That contest was among the closest on record, decided by a margin of about 3.5 percent. The 2018 governorship poll went to a controversial rerun before Oyetola was declared winner, while the 2022 result survived a tribunal reversal before higher courts affirmed Adeleke.
Odo Otin, where Sunday’s attack occurred, was among the 17 councils Adeleke won in 2022, underlining why control of voter cards in such areas carries weight. Adeleke had earlier accused APC agents of buying PVCs and harvesting card PINs to disenfranchise voters, an allegation the party denied, even as INEC cautioned against disinformation. Distribution of PVCs continues at local government offices from July 29 to August 7.