Two Weeks To Poll, Osun SSG Arrest Splits Police, State Govt
Barely two weeks to Osun State’s governorship election, the arrest of the Secretary to the State Government, Teslim Igbalaye, alongside five other persons has triggered a fierce standoff between the Nigeria Police Force and the administration of Governor Ademola Adeleke, sharpening anxieties over the neutrality of security agencies in the August 15 poll.
The Osun State Police Command said its operatives raided Igbalaye’s residence at Oroki Estate, Osogbo, on Wednesday, recovering N4,810,500 in cash, two Permanent Voter Cards, a voter register covering wards one to 15, a Dynabook laptop, a photocopier and a printer. The command’s spokesperson, Abiodun Ojelabi, said the items pointed to possible electoral offences.
“The recovery of the cash and the register containing voters’ details raises serious concerns regarding possible electoral offences and other criminal activities,” Ojelabi said in a statement, listing bribery of voters under Section 121 of the Electoral Act 2022, criminal conspiracy and the harbouring of a wanted suspect among the matters under investigation. He named Oladele Abiodun, one of those held, as a person already on the command’s watchlist.
The others arrested were Akande Taiwo, Adeyemo Lukman, Olaoye Muftau and Aderemi Musliu, aged between 40 and 60. Ojelabi later indicated that four of the six had been screened and cleared for release after being found not to be involved.
The state government rejected the police account. Its Commissioner for Information, Kolapo Alimi, described the operation as a warrantless invasion carried out by a team led by the Deputy Commissioner of Police in charge of operations, and said members of the SSG’s family were taken away. He alleged that the raid was one of several targeting government officials, including a Tuesday operation at the Ikire residence of the Commissioner for Energy.
“This campaign of repression constitutes grave danger to democracy. It is a reprehensible unprofessional conduct by the police in support of the state All Progressives Congress,” Alimi said, adding that Igbalaye was attending an Independent National Electoral Commission stakeholders’ forum when his home was entered.
The Adeleke campaign widened the claims. Its spokesperson, Pelumi Olajengbesi, told journalists in Abuja that more than 86 party members had been arrested in recent days and moved to the capital, alleging that 36 were taken to Keffi Correctional Centre and 14 to Kuje without charge. He urged the Inspector General of Police, Olatunji Disu, to intervene and described the Osun Commissioner of Police as compromised.
The police pushed back. Ojelabi maintained that only six suspects were arrested, all adults, and denied that the homes of commissioners were invaded. On the demand for the removal of the state Commissioner of Police, Ibrahim Gotan, he said the officer was posted by the Inspector General and could not remove himself.
The confrontation unfolded as INEC intensified final preparations. The commission’s chairman, Professor Joash Amupitan, met stakeholders in Osogbo on Wednesday, where he put the number of registered voters at 2,339,233 across 30 local government areas, 332 wards and 3,763 polling units. As of Tuesday, 322,822 newly registered voters, roughly 62 percent, had collected their cards.
The August 15 contest, rescheduled from August 8, features 14 parties, though it is widely seen as a battle among three leading contenders: Adeleke, defending his seat on the Accord platform, Bola Oyebamiji of the APC, and Najeem Salaam of the African Democratic Congress. Adeleke won the 2022 election under the Peoples Democratic Party, unseating Gboyega Oyetola, before decamping to Accord.
The stakes stretch beyond the state. President Bola Tinubu is widely reported to be keen on reclaiming Osun for the APC ahead of the 2027 general election, while former governor Rauf Aregbesola, now national secretary of the ADC, is working to reassert his influence through Salaam. As of the time of filing, Igbalaye had not been arraigned in court.