The governorship election in Osun State may have been decided long before polling units opened this morning. Not by anything else but by the size of brown envelopes that have been changing hands across the state for the past two weeks.
The All Progressives Congress and Accord Party are locked in a cash war, with reports of payments ranging from N10,000 to N20,000 per voter. And while vote-buying is hardly a new phenomenon in Nigerian elections, the scale and audacity of this operation—starting days before the poll and conducted in full public view—has raised serious questions about the credibility of today’s exercise.
In Ila LGA, Accord Party emerged as the highest bidder, offering N20,000 per eligible voter—N5,000 more than the APC’s N15,000. A resident who spoke with our correspondent said he and his wife collected N20,000 each from Accord leaders.
“They asked us to swear an oath that we would vote for Adeleke. We didn’t take any oath. But many others collected N10,000,” he said.
Isaac Ibirogba, another resident, confirmed that Accord initially offered N10,000 before increasing it to N20,000 on Tuesday, while the APC was offering N15,000.
In Ilesa, the APC reportedly disbursed N20,000 per voter across polling units in Ilesa East, Ilesa West and Atakunmosa East LGAs. A beneficiary who collected his money at the Bonnke area on Wednesday said the cash came in N1,000 and N500 denominations.
“We had over 200 voters and it was done unit by unit. I collected mine around 11am at the bungalow belonging to one of the APC chieftains in our unit,” he said.
A human rights activist in Ilesa confirmed the operation, telling our correspondent: “At the Coca-Cola area, people were given N20,000 each at one particular storey building. But you have to show your voter card before being paid. At Abiola Avenue, APC members gave N20,000 to each voter. The storey building where the money was shared belongs to an APC leader in the area.”
What makes this election different is not just the cash but the curses.
In many areas, beneficiaries were forced to swear spiritual oaths, with political leaders placing curses on anyone who collected money but failed to vote for their candidate. At Iroye and Imo areas of Ilesa, APC supporters distributed rice alongside cash, cursing beneficiaries who might betray them.
A student leader in Iroye said: “I saw them. They are APC supporters. They provided money and rice. They were cursing the beneficiaries, saying it would not be well with them if they failed to vote for AMBO after collecting the money.”
Last week, a viral video showed an APC chieftain, Alhaja Falilat Yusuf, popularly known as Ero-Arike, distributing bags of rice to women and placing curses on anyone who collected the rice but failed to vote for the APC candidate.
In Boluwaduro LGA, Accord Party operatives asked beneficiaries to swear by the Ogun deity that they would vote for Adeleke.
An APC chieftain in Ilesa West LGA who confirmed the inducement claimed it was for transportation. “We are not buying votes. We only provided them with cash to transport themselves to their various polling units,” he said.
In Osogbo LGA, an APC chieftain involved in the distribution spoke with more candour. “We targeted 150 voters in every unit. We gave N15,000 each to 75 voters on Wednesday, and another 75 voters received N15,000 each on Thursday. That was not really for vote-buying; it was for feeding before election day. We know what to do on election day,” he said.
In Iwo LGA, an APC chieftain revealed that N700,000 was budgeted for vote-buying in each of the 170 polling units across the 15 wards. “A sum of N700,000 was provided per polling unit, and we have been distributing it at N15,000 per voter since Tuesday. We are systematic about it because the Accord Party is also distributing money,” he said.
Like every election cycle in recent memory, violence has accompanied the cash. At least eight persons were killed between Monday night and Friday morning in Ilesa and Esa-Oke.
At about 8pm on Monday, three persons identified simply as Idowu, Yinka and Eja were killed around the Imo area of Ilesa. Two persons were killed around the Boluwaduro area on Wednesday. An Accord supporter in Ilesa, Sunday Obube, and another person were reportedly killed by suspected political thugs on Thursday.
Dele Ayegbo, a nephew of the APC Governorship Campaign Director-General, Wole Oke, was reportedly killed in Esa-Oke on Wednesday. On Friday, gunmen shot dead one Osaretine Obasohan at Oni Eran Area, Ilesa.
The spokesperson for the Osun State Police Command, Abiodun Ojelabi, confirmed the killing, linking it to cult clashes. “He (victim) was also suspected to be a cultist. The incident happened early this morning (Friday) around 7am at Omi Eran area,” he added.
Soldiers with Armoured Personnel Carriers were deployed to flashpoints including the Osun/Kwara boundary, Esa-Oke, Ilesa, Ikoyi, and Owens community along the Osun/Ondo boundary.
Force Public Relations Officer Okokon Iniedu warned politicians and voters against vote-buying, describing it as an electoral offence that would not be tolerated. He pledged adequate security for INEC ad hoc staff and National Youth Service Corps members.
How many times have Nigerians heard this before? How many perpetrators have faced justice?
Yiaga Africa expressed concern that the election outcome might not be credible, citing widespread vote-buying and violence.
The organisation’s Executive Director, Samson Itodo, described the situation as “the weaponisation of poverty and the monetisation of politics.”
“When politics is determined by the highest bidder and the highest tender, what suffers is governance, transparency, integrity and accountability,” he said.
Itodo also raised concerns over the level of violence, noting that 34 deaths had been linked to the build-up to the election.
“Osun is currently tense and highly competitive, signposted by violence. When you have attempts to undermine institutions from performing their constitutional functions, what you get is a questionable outcome,” he added.
The APC campaign council on Friday accused Governor Adeleke of keeping suspected hoodlums in the Government House in Osogbo, calling on the Inspector General of Police and the Director General of Department of State Services to act immediately.
Kehinde Ayantunji, a member of the media committee of the APC campaign council, said: “We have intelligence that a large number of political thugs have been mobilised into the Government House. In the last two hours, they have been moving in and out, and our intelligence has confirmed that most of these people are not from these states.”
The Accord Party, in turn, bemoaned alleged statewide attacks on its members and supporters. The state chairman, Pastor Victor Akande, alleged that several houses across the state had been attacked, vandalised and looted.
“At Iree town, gun attacks took place all through the night with many Accord members injured while the palace of Aree of Iree was attacked with multiple gun attacks from all corners. Five injuries were reported in the palace,” Akande said.
Here is the uncomfortable truth: vote-buying is not new in Nigeria. It has been a feature of every election in recent memory. What is different in Osun is the brazenness, the scale, and the fact that it started days before the election, conducted in broad daylight with little fear of consequences.
The Electoral Act provides for penalties of up to N500,000 fine or 12 months imprisonment for vote-buying. But when was the last time anyone was convicted? When was the last time security agencies intervened effectively?
As voters across Osun State cast their ballots today, the fundamental question remains: will their choices reflect their conscience or the size of the envelope they collected?
For a state that has witnessed significant political turbulence since the last election, today’s vote may determine not just who governs Osun but whether the people’s will can still prevail in Nigeria’s democracy. The pattern of impunity suggests the answer may not be encouraging.
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