No fewer than 73 election-related violent incidents leading to 29 deaths have been recorded in the build-up to the election, with Osogbo, the state capital, emerging as the worst-hit.
As Osun State prepares for Saturday’s governorship election, the contest has taken a darker narrative, one marked not only by campaign promises and political rallies but by killings and attacks that have left residents increasingly fearful of participating in the exercise.
The violence has largely involved the ruling Accord Party and its major challenger, the All Progressives Congress (APC), with both parties portraying the other as the aggressor.
The incumbent governor, Ademola Adeleke, is flying the Accord Party flag, while a former Commissioner for Finance, Bola Oyebamiji, is APC’s candidate.
A total of 15 political parties are fielding candidates in the contest. They are the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Action Alliance (AA), African Action Congress (AAC), African Democratic Party (ADP), All Progressives’ Grand Alliance (APGA), Allied Peoples Movement (APM), Action Peoples Party (APP), Boot Party (BP), New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP), and Peoples Redemption Party (PRP).
The others are the Young Progressives Party (YPP), Zenith Labour Party (ZLP), and African Democratic Party (ADP), which has the only female candidate.
The candidate of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) withdrew last Saturday and pledged his support for the APC candidate, but will still be on the ballot to make the 14th candidate.
Also, INEC on Wednesday approved the inclusion of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) candidate, following a court order, as the 15th candidate.
In June, 14-year-old Ezekiel Olapade died after he was hit by a stray bullet during a gun battle involving suspected political thugs near the secretariat of Irepodun Local Government Area in Ilobu. Ezekiel was neither a politician nor a campaigner, but he paid the ultimate price for being in the wrong place when armed political thugs opened fire.
His father, Gbenga Olapade, alleged that Kareem Saheed, popularly known as Tanfeani, an alleged political thug, led a group of six armed men that attacked his wife’s palm-wine bar, located opposite the local government secretariat.
According to Mr Olapade, the attackers, alleged to be political thugs working for Mr Oyebamiji, arrived in a vehicle bearing campaign posters of the APC candidate and opened fire after spotting a man wearing a yellow cap, supposedly a member of the Accord Party, whom they believed was their target. One of the bullets struck the boy, and he died immediately.
The Osun State Police Public Relations Officer, Abiodun Ojelabi, confirmed the incident to PREMIUM TIMES and added that another victim was shot in the hand and taken to the hospital for treatment.
But Mr Saheed denied involvement in Master Olapade’s death. In a video, he said he was not at the scene when the shooting occurred. However, a video of gunfire that later emerged raised further questions about his alleged involvement. Regardless, the police subsequently arrested him alongside 23 other suspects in connection with political violence and cult-related offences in the state.
The teenager’s death was not an isolated incident. It became one of several instances of bloodshed recorded in the build-up to the governorship election
Data by the Kimpact Development Initiative (KDI) shows the gravity of the problem. The organisation said it documented 44 election-related violent incidents across Osun State between October 2025 and June 2026. Of these, it said 26 occurred in May and June alone, representing 59.1 per cent of all incidents recorded during the period.
In its latest report, the organisation said no fewer than 73 election-related violent incidents leading to 29 deaths have been recorded, with Osogbo, the state capital, emerging as the worst-hit.
Bukola Idowu, executive director of KDI, during an interview with this newspaper, said the rising incidents of election violence are a warning sign and a call for urgent action to avert escalation.
“Voters need to know that they are safe. When such incidents continue up to the election, they will undermine citizens’ participation and the credibility of the electoral process,” he said.
The police also acknowledged the severity of the situation. In July, they disclosed that 30 people had been killed in pre-election violence incidents in Osun.
“From the complaints received, we cannot rule out the involvement of some politicians in the killings,” said Anietie Iniedu, the police spokesperson, during a morning brief programme on Channel TV.
The escalation of pre-election violence also revived memories of Osun’s history of election-related violence, with civil society organisations, security agencies and political actors warning of the dangers posed by the growing tension ahead of the poll.
The current wave of political violence did not begin with the first gunshot of the 2026 election season. Its roots stretch back to an earlier political battle between the local government chairpersons elected under the APC-led former governor, Gboyega Oyetola, and the new chairpersons elected under the incumbent governor, Ademola Adeleke.
In February 2025, the dispute over control of the state’s 30 local government councils spilt into violence after rival political parties, involving APC and Mr Adeleke’s former party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), clashed over who had the authority to occupy council secretariats following the re-run election.
The confrontation followed a legal dispute involving local government chairpersons elected under both parties, and the subsequent struggle for control of the councils.
When some APC members attempted to take over council secretariats following favourable court decisions, they encountered resistance from supporters of the PDP-led state government. The clash, however, left no fewer than five people dead, including the former council chairman of Irewole Local Government Area, Remi Abass.
As the dispute over local government control continued unresolved, the confrontation slipped into the state’s governorship contest, escalating into the deadly violence that tossed the state’s politics into chaos.
The early warning signs began with the vandalising of campaign materials, including banners, and attacks on political offices.
In May, PREMIUM TIMES reported allegations by the Imole Campaign Council, the campaign organisation of Governor Adeleke, that APC supporters were destroying campaign billboards of the ruling Accord Party in Irewole, Ayedaade, Irepodun and Osogbo.
The APC denied the allegation and, in a counter-accusation, said its own campaign materials had also been destroyed by suspected thugs of the state government and the Accord Party.
The police confirmed that some billboards were damaged and said an investigation had commenced. But the police said the complainant had not identified any suspect at the time of this newspaper’s reporting in May.
