Osun: Reject intimidation, turn out to vote
August 14, 2026 1:23 am
FILE: Governor Ademola Adeleke and APC governorship candidate, Bola Oyebamiji
DARK clouds of violence and intimidation have gathered over Osun State in the run-up to Saturday’s governorship election. Yet Osun people must not surrender to fear or allow violence to rob them of their democratic rights. They must troop out to vote. It is an important civic duty they owe themselves, their children and the future of the state.
Five people were reportedly killed in Ilesa in pre-election violence just six days before the August 15 ballot. An earlier and heavier assault reportedly claimed about 30 lives across the state.
These are grim figures for an exercise in which citizens are supposed to choose their leaders peacefully.
The political rhetoric has also done little to inspire confidence. Statements such as “all is fair in politics” or warnings about a “repeat of the 1983 crisis” carry a dangerously belligerent tone. Democracy cannot survive when political competition is reduced to a brutal contest in which anything goes.
Most disturbing was the reported statement attributed to the 74-year-old sitting senator, Francis Fadahunsi, directing that members of the Accord Party, their wives and children be killed. Following the backlash, Fadahunsi sought to clarify his words, claiming he meant they should be “killed with votes.”
But the damage is already done.
Such incendiary rhetoric can frighten voters and discourage them from turning up to cast their ballots. Osun people should reject intimidation and march to their polling booths to choose their governor.
Shunning the election may appear to be a protest against violence. In reality, it could hand power and control of the state to precisely the very same political forces voters wish to reject. An empty polling booth can empower politicians rather than punish them.
Osun people must therefore make it impossible for anyone to rig their votes or foist an unpopular candidate on the state.
Fadahunsi’s attempt to clarify his words does not make the original statement acceptable. How does one “kill” party members’ wives and children with votes?
A senator in his seventies should play a fatherly and stabilising role, not sound like an instigator of violence.
Osun has an unflattering electoral history.
In 2018, the Independent National Electoral Commission declared the governorship election inconclusive after violence, shootings and ballot snatching disrupted voting in multiple polling units across four local government areas. Ballot-box snatching and intimidation of election observers were also reported.
Gboyega Oyetola was declared the winner only after a violence-plagued rerun in Garage Olode and other areas.
The 2022 election was considerably calmer, but not devoid of troubling incidents. There were reports of ballot-box snatching and disruption at polling units in parts of the state. In Ikire, a dispute over the placement of ballot boxes required security intervention.
These incidents underline a basic truth: electoral violence can quickly turn an ordinary voting exercise into a contest of force.
That lesson must be taken seriously this time.
Many see Saturday’s election as a dress rehearsal for the January 2027 general elections. If it is peaceful, credible and transparent, it will give Nigerians hope ahead of the national elections. If it is marred by violence, intimidation, manipulation or official interference, the damage will extend far beyond Osun.
Fadahunsi should not merely be questioned by the police over his reckless and dangerous statement; if the allegations are established, he should be placed before a judge.
There must be consequences for unguarded political speech that threatens lives. Nigeria has suffered too much from the culture of political violence.
“Operation Wetie” should teach everyone a lesson. The violence that engulfed the Western Region in the First Republic demonstrated how political passions, once unleashed, can become difficult to contain.
A fire lit in Osun today may travel farther than anyone expects.
Apart from the killings, a state government official was arrested and later released, while the EFCC froze the state’s account. President Bola Tinubu directed the EFCC to unfreeze the account.
That intervention was welcome, but the President should go further. Federal agencies must be directed to keep their hands off Osun’s politics and election. The credibility of the election must not be compromised by either overt or subtle federal interference.
The ultimate responsibility, however, belongs to the people of Osun. They must not allow intimidation to drive them away from the polling booths on Saturday.
They should vote peacefully, protect their ballots through lawful means and insist that their votes are counted.
The security agencies must protect voters without taking sides.
Traditional rulers should appeal for peace, restraint and participation, while avoiding partisan statements that could deepen divisions in their communities.
Politicians must understand that an election is not a do-or-die affair.
Former President Goodluck Jonathan offered perhaps the clearest example of this principle when, after losing the 2015 presidential election to Muhammadu Buhari, he famously said his ambition was not worth the blood of a single Nigerian. That statement helped elevate him in the public imagination as a statesman who placed national peace above personal power. politicians
Nigerians should emulate that example.
Political violence must be severely sanctioned; otherwise, it will persist.
If the allegations against Fadahunsi are established, an example must be made of him. Nobody should be above the law.
Osun people should troop out peacefully on Saturday and cast their votes for the candidates of their choice. They should reject every attempt to intimidate them, whether through violence, threats, rhetoric or abuse of state power.
Their votes are their voice.
They must not surrender that voice to fear.
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