Osun decides: Adeleke coasts to victory amid violence, BVAS failure, vote-buying allegations

On Saturday, residents of Osun State cast their ballots to elect the next governor. The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) announced that Governor Ademola Adeleke, representing the Accord Party, is leading in the polls, while Bola Oyebamiji of the All Progressives Congress (APC) secured a victory in 11 Local Government Areas (LGAs). The election was largely a two-way race between Adeleke and Oyebamiji. The State Returning Officer, Prof. Joshua Ogunwole, is announcing results from various polling units.

Voter turnout was significant despite security concerns and incidents of violence, alleged voter intimidation, and vote-buying. Some polling units experienced BVAS (Bimodal Voter Accreditation System) failures, causing delays in voting. One voter, Olayinka Ajala, faced authentication issues with the BVAS device, which prevented him from casting his vote. However, he described the polling process as peaceful and noted that the number of affected voters was small compared to the total voter count.

Allegations of vote-buying surfaced, with video footage showing voters in Ejigbo Local Government Area protesting against an alleged vote-buying scheme involving a political party. Some voters claimed they alerted security personnel, but they were accused of being reluctant to intervene. The APC and Accord Party were both accused of offering voters sums ranging from N10,000 to N20,000.

The practice reportedly began several days before the election, with party agents reportedly collecting voters' bank account details ahead of the poll.