By Kazeem Ugbodaga
Osun State Governor and Accord Party governorship candidate, Ademola Adeleke, has appealed to President Bola Tinubu to intervene over alleged attempts to disrupt the collation of results from Saturday’s governorship election.
Adeleke, in separate statements on Saturday night, urged the President to direct the heads of security agencies to maintain adequate security at polling units and collation centres across the state until the electoral process is concluded.
The governor said reports of attempts to “hijack or disrupt” collation centres by what he described as desperate politicians were deeply concerning, warning that any withdrawal of security personnel could expose voters, Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) officials and other election personnel to danger.
“It is imperative that you use your good office to issue a clear warning to the heads of security agencies deployed to protect the good people of Osun State and safeguard the integrity of the electoral process,” Adeleke appealed to Tinubu.
He specifically called on the President to ensure that the Nigeria Police Force, Department of State Services (DSS), Nigerian Army and Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps continue to protect the electoral process.
Adeleke also claimed he had been reliably informed that “some unscrupulous persons” had directed the withdrawal of security agents from polling units and collation centres across Osun State.
He alleged that such a development would leave voters and INEC personnel vulnerable to attacks by persons he described as “rampaging APC thugs.”
“The IGP, DG DSS should not allow desperate politicians truncate Osun election. Mr. President should intervene now!” Adeleke said.
The governor’s appeal comes as INEC continues the electronic upload and collation of results from the election.
As of 8:18 p.m. on Saturday, INEC’s IReV portal showed that 3,191 of the 3,763 expected polling-unit results, representing 84.80 per cent, had been uploaded across the state’s 30 local government areas.
Adeleke urged Tinubu to ensure that the votes cast by Osun residents were protected and that the final outcome reflected the choice of the electorate.
He also asked the President to ensure that INEC received all necessary support to complete the collation and declaration process.
“The people of Osun State have spoken with one voice, and their voices must be heard. Their votes must be protected, and their mandate must be respected,” he said.
Adeleke said the Federal Government must prevent any attempt to compromise the process after millions of Nigerians had participated in the election.
He called on the President to reaffirm the commitment that the election would be peaceful and credible and that the final result would be determined by votes legitimately cast by Osun voters.
Adeleke’s allegations had not been independently confirmed at the time of reporting, and there was no immediate response from the Presidency or the affected security agencies to his claims.
