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15 Candidates Battle For Osun Govt House As 2.3m Votes Head To The Polls
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The road to the August 15 governorship election is entering its final stretch in Osun State, with 15 candidates seeking the votes that could take them to the Osun State Government House.
While the contest features candidates from 15 political parties, three names have emerged as prominent contenders in the race: incumbent Governor Ademola Adeleke of the Accord Party, All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate Bola Oyebamiji, and African Democratic Congress (ADC) candidate Najeem Salam.
Incumbent Seeks Another Term
For the candidates, the campaign has taken them across the state’s 30 local government areas as they seek to make their case to voters ahead of Saturday’s election.
For Adeleke, the election presents an opportunity to defend the mandate he secured in 2022 and seek another four-year term. The Ede indigene was a businessman and corporate administrator in Nigeria and the United States before entering politics. His first governorship bid came in 2018 under the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), when he lost to APC candidate Adegboyega Oyetola.
Four years later, Adeleke returned to the contest and defeated Oyetola, who was then the incumbent governor. He was sworn in as governor on November 27, 2022.
His political career had earlier taken him to the Senate. In July 2017, he was elected to represent Osun West Senatorial District, replacing his late elder brother, Adetunji Adeleke.
Now known in political circles as “Imole”, Adeleke is seeking another mandate on the strength of what he describes as his administration’s achievements in infrastructure, health, agriculture and other sectors.
Experienced Banker, Public Administrator
The APC’s Oyebamiji enters the contest with experience in banking, finance and public administration.
He served as Osun State Commissioner for Finance during the second term of former governor Rauf Aregbesola and the administration of Oyetola from 2017 to 2022.
An indigene of Ikire in the Irewole Local Government Area of the Osun West Senatorial District, Oyebamiji is popularly known as “AMBO”, an acronym of his full name, Asiwaju Munirudeen Bola Oyebamiji.
His public-sector experience extended to the federal level, where he served as Managing Director of the National Inland Waterways Authority. He resigned from the position in November 2025 to pursue the governorship.
He is now taking that experience into a statewide contest for the mandate to lead Osun.
A Familiar Figure
The ADC candidate, Najeem Salam, is another familiar figure in Osun politics.
A native of Ejigbo in the Ejigbo Local Government Area, Salam, popularly known among his political associates and supporters as “Iwaloye”, holds a doctorate in political science.
His legislative career began in 2007 when he was elected to represent Ejigbo Constituency in the Osun State House of Assembly. The victory was later nullified by the Court of Appeal in 2009 over an omission of his party’s logo on the ballot paper.
Salam returned to the contest in 2011, won the seat and became Speaker in June of that year. He served as Speaker from 2011 to 2015 and was re-elected in 2017, remaining in the Assembly until 2019.
He is now seeking the state’s highest political office.
A Wider Field
Beyond the three prominent contenders, 12 other candidates are on the ballot.
They are Olanrewaju Farinloye of the Action Alliance; Olajide Esan of the African Action Congress; Adeagbo Opawoye of the African Democratic Party; Adesina Adeyemi-Doro of the All Progressives’ Grand Alliance; Adewale Adebayo of the Allied Peoples Movement; Clement Adesuyi of the Action Peoples Party; Masilo Adeleke of the Boot Party; Taofeek Adeleke of the New Nigeria Peoples Party; Saliu Oyelami of the Peoples Redemption Party; Olalekan Ogunsakin of the Young Progressives Party; Francis Ajala of the Social Democratic Party; and Adefemi Adesuyi of the Zenith Labour Party.
Yemisi Adeagbo of the African Democratic Party is the only female candidate in the race. She is a retired school principal and is 84 years old.
Security Takes Centre Stage
With election day approaching, security preparations have also intensified.
Inspector-General of Police Olatunji Disu has barred the Western Nigeria Security Network, popularly known as Amotekun, as well as other quasi-security groups and private security organisations, from election-security duties.
He also restated the ban on armed escorts, security aides and other unauthorised persons accompanying political figures or VIPs to polling units and collation centres.
Disu warned political actors, their supporters and intending troublemakers that ballot snatching, voter intimidation, political thuggery and other electoral offences would attract arrest and prosecution.
The IGP has also deployed Deputy Inspector-General of Police Ishyaku Mohammed to coordinate security operations for the election.
He will work with other security agencies under the Inter-Agency Consultative Committee on Election Security, supported by Assistant Inspectors-General and Commissioners of Police deployed across the state’s three senatorial districts.
The police said adequate arrangements have been made to protect voters, INEC personnel, election materials, polling units, collation centres, accredited observers and media practitioners before, during and after the election.
Parties Commit To Peaceful Poll
The candidates and their parties also signed a peace accord in July, reaffirming their commitment to a peaceful, free and credible election.
The accord was facilitated by the Osun Development Association during a Governance and Election Integrity Summit in Osogbo, attended by representatives of INEC, security agencies, traditional and religious leaders, political parties and civil society organisations.
The Osun State Resident Electoral Commissioner, Oluwatoyin Babalola, said the integrity of the electoral process was a collective responsibility and urged stakeholders to place peace, patriotism and the interest of the state above political ambition.
The summit ended with representatives of participating political parties signing the peace accord and pledging to conduct their campaigns peacefully while upholding the principles of free, fair and credible elections.
Now, with August 15 approaching, the campaigns, promises and political calculations are giving way to the ballot. The decision ultimately rests with Osun voters, who will choose the candidate to lead the State of the Living Spring.
The Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) has intercepted two persons in Adamawa State with ₦34 million in cash, with the suspects allegedly linked to a kidnapping syndicate.
The suspects were intercepted with the cash during an operation in the state.
The Comptroller of Immigration Service, Sani Sule-Jega, disclosed this at a media briefing in Yola, the Adamawa State capital.
According to him, preliminary investigations showed that the suspects claimed the money was intended to pay ransom for their abducted brother.
In a separate operation, the Adamawa State Command of the NIS also intercepted 17 irregular migrants at Rumde Baruw in Yola North Local Government Area of the state.
The undocumented migrants were intercepted at a private three-bedroom residence during an operation by officers of the command.
Sule-Jega said preliminary profiling showed that 13 of the migrants were Cameroonian nationals, comprising eight males and five females, while the remaining four were Chadian nationals, all males.
The Comptroller noted a shift in the accommodation pattern of undocumented migrants, particularly their increasing use of private and unregistered apartments instead of conventional lodging facilities such as hotels.
He said the service was intensifying surveillance and intelligence-led operations to identify and address emerging patterns of irregular migration in the state.
Sule-Jega reiterated the command’s commitment to safeguarding Nigeria’s territorial integrity, improving migration management and strengthening border security.
He urged members of the public to remain vigilant and provide credible information that could assist security agencies in maintaining peace and security across the state.
The suspects and recovered cash have been taken into custody for further investigation and necessary action in accordance with established procedures and applicable laws.
The Comptroller General of Immigration has directed that the suspects and exhibits be handed over to the Nigeria Police Force for further investigation.
A popular Kano social media political commentator, Ibrahim Khalil Dan Shagamu, has been reportedly killed in his apartment in Kano State.
Dan Shagamu, who operated under the brand Dan-shagamu International, was known for his social media videos and commentary on political, religious and community issues.
Amnesty International Nigeria confirmed his killing in a statement posted on X on Wednesday, saying his body was found in a pool of blood at his home.
“Amnesty International strongly condemns the killing of a social media political commentator Ibrahim Khalil Dan Shagamu whose body was found today in a pool of blood at his home in Kano,” the organisation said.
“He was brutally slaughtered after being overpowered by his killers.”
Details surrounding the circumstances of the killing were still unclear as of Wednesday.Amnesty International called on the Nigerian authorities to investigate the killing and ensure that those responsible are brought to justice.
“The Nigerian authorities must investigate this incident and ensure that those suspected of responsibility are brought to justice,” it said, while tagging the Nigeria Police Force.
The rights organisation also expressed concern over what it described as increasing politically related threats and intimidation ahead of the elections.
“As the elections approach, we continue to receive disturbing reports of politically related threats to life and intimidation,” Amnesty said.
News of Dan Shagamu’s death has sparked an outpouring of grief among his followers and residents, with many taking to social media to express shock and offer prayers for his soul.
Reports circulating on social media said Dan Shagamu was killed in a gruesome manner, with some describing the attack as “yankan rago”, a Hausa expression referring to throat-slitting.
Senate President Godswill Akpabio has petitioned the Department of State Services (DSS) to investigate a viral social media statement allegedly attributed to him in which he purportedly warned Northerners that they would “suffer the most” if President Bola Tinubu loses the 2027 election.
The statement, circulated on Facebook and other digital platforms alongside Akpabio’s photograph and official designation, has sparked controversy, prompting the Senate President to formally deny making the remark.
In a petition signed by his Chief of Staff, Chinedu Akubueze, Akpabio described the publication as “manifestly false, inflammatory and dangerously divisive,” urging the DSS to investigate its origin and distribution.
The viral graphic attributes the following statement to Akpabio: “Northerners, you will be the ones to suffer the most, if you allow Tinubu to lose the election.”
Akpabio, however, said there is no credible evidence linking him to the statement.
According to the petition, no identifiable date, venue, speech, interview, audio or video recording, official statement or credible media report has been produced to authenticate the alleged quotation.
The Senate President alleged that the graphic was deliberately fabricated and presented as an authentic statement with the aim of misleading the public, inflaming regional sentiments and portraying him as hostile to Nigerians from the North.
Akpabio also drew the DSS’s attention to several individuals allegedly identified through a preliminary review of publicly accessible Facebook records as among the early amplifiers of the disputed material.
The petition named Abdullai Musa, who allegedly shared the graphic in a Facebook group known as “Sheik Muhammad bin Uthman Group 24,” and Uzoma Chilaka, whose Facebook post allegedly reproduced the graphic alongside commentary attributed to Boniface Uzoma Chilaka and Engineer Ibrahim Umar Ammar.
It further referenced a verified Facebook account belonging to Ibrahim Umar Ammar, which allegedly later reproduced the graphic and substantially similar commentary.
Akpabio’s office, however, stressed that the individuals mentioned in the petition should not be presumed guilty, describing them only as “material persons of interest” whose activities could assist investigators in tracing the origin and circulation of the disputed publication.
The Senate President is asking the DSS to investigate the publication records, devices, communications and provenance of the graphic in accordance with Nigerian law.
The petition comes amid heightened political activity ahead of the 2027 general elections and growing concerns over the spread of inflammatory, misleading and fabricated political content on social media.
The statement was issued by Jackson Udom, Special Assistant to the President of the Senate on Media.
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