Osun State Commissioner for Information, Kolapo Alimi, has accused the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the police of persecuting Governor Ademola Adeleke and members of the Accord Party ahead of Saturday’s governorship election.
Alimi alleged that APC leaders worked with some police officers to frustrate Adeleke’s re-election campaign through intimidation, arrests and detention of party members.
The commissioner made the allegations on Sunday while speaking on Agbami Oselu, a Yoruba public affairs programme broadcast by a radio station in Osogbo.
According to Alimi, several Accord Party members were allegedly killed by political thugs sponsored by a rival party during the campaign, while security agencies failed to adequately protect them.
He said Accord members were reluctant to retaliate when attacked because they feared being arrested and accused of instigating violence.
“We dared not respond if their thugs attacked us because they would turn around and say we were the ones that attacked them and before you know it, the police would arrest our members and detain them,” he said.
Alimi also alleged that the party faced repeated restrictions on its campaign activities, including the cancellation of a planned mega rally.
He said the party initially scheduled its major rally for Thursday, August 13, but the police allegedly refused to approve it, citing an APC event scheduled for the same day.
According to him, when Accord moved the rally to Wednesday, August 12, the police again informed the party that the APC had another event planned for that date.
The commissioner further alleged that Accord was prevented from using Freedom Park in Osogbo after officials of the Nigerian Railway Corporation claimed ownership of the facility.
Alimi said the party believed the park belonged to the state government because it was constructed during the administration of former governor Rauf Aregbesola, but chose not to press the matter to avoid confrontation.
He also alleged that the party cancelled a campaign event planned at the open field of Fakunle Comprehensive High School after receiving a security report warning of a planned attack by political thugs.
“We had to cancel the event owing to security concerns. But the police turned around to say that we should have gone ahead with the event, even when we knew they would not respond to our call if the thugs attacked us,” Alimi said.
The commissioner extended his allegations beyond the campaign, citing the withholding of local government allocations and the freezing of the state government’s accounts by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission as part of what he described as pressure on the Adeleke administration.
He said the state government had been using its own resources to pay a monthly wage bill of about N6.5 billion covering primary school teachers and local government workers.
Alimi also recalled that Adeleke had publicly questioned what more was expected of him after declaring support for President Bola Tinubu’s 2027 re-election bid.
He said the governor told them that Tinubu subsequently called and assured him of federal government support, but that the situation did not change.
Despite the alleged challenges, Alimi attributed Adeleke’s victory to the resilience of Osun voters and what he described as God’s intervention.
Adeleke was declared winner of Saturday’s governorship election after defeating his closest challenger, APC candidate Bola Oyebamiji, and other candidates.
Alimi said the governor would use his second term to continue implementing development projects targeted at improving the lives of residents.
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