OSOGBO — The All Progressives Congress (APC) Campaign Media Committee in Osun State has raised an alarm over the alleged mobilisation and movement of political thugs into the Government House in Osogbo, less than 24 hours before the state’s governorship election.
The committee alleged that the suspected thugs were brought into the state from Lagos and were being accommodated by the state government ahead of Saturday’s election.
Speaking with journalists at the Correspondents’ Chapel in Osogbo on Friday, the spokesperson for the APC Campaign Media Committee, Kehinde Ayantunji, said the party received intelligence indicating that a large number of suspected political thugs had been moved into the Government House.
Ayantunji alleged that the group was led by two individuals identified by the names “Olowe” and “Iberu,” which he described as their alleged codenames within the Government House.
According to him, the party’s intelligence indicated that the suspected thugs had been moving in and out of the Government House over the past few hours.
He said, “As I’m speaking to you now, 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 this state.
“The two individuals who led those thugs are Olowe and Iberu. These are the codenames given to them at the Government House this afternoon.”
Ayantunji further claimed that the suspected group arrived in several vehicles, which he identified as a dark-ash Lexus Jeep with registration number KRD207IS, a Toyota Corolla with registration number AKD795GR, a red Volkswagen Golf with registration number AGL719, and another dark-ash Lexus Jeep with registration number KRD210KS.
The APC spokesman said the party was not making the allegation based solely on unverified information, insisting that its intelligence had been cross-checked and that it had photographic evidence to support the claims.
“We are not just raising this alarm; we have double-checked our intelligence, and we have pictorial evidence of what we are saying here this afternoon,” he said.
According to Ayantunji, the suspected thugs were allegedly mobilised to disrupt the electoral process in areas where the APC believed the election could be unfavourable to the party.
He specifically mentioned parts of Osogbo, Irepodun and Egbedore Local Government Areas as areas allegedly being targeted.
“Our intelligence confirmed that these suspected political thugs have been adequately mobilised, and any moment from now, they might be moving around,” he said.
He alleged that the suspected thugs could be deployed to destabilise the election in Ward 5 of Osogbo Local Government Area, as well as Ward 4, Ward 8, Okini, Ido-Osun and Ofatedo communities in Egbedore Local Government Area.
Ayantunji further alleged that the group had been mobilised with financial resources and ammunition for the purpose of disrupting the electoral process.
He said the APC decided to make the allegation public in order to draw the attention of security agencies, election stakeholders and the international community to what the party described as a potential threat to the election.
The APC committee also called on security agencies to investigate the alleged presence of the suspected thugs at the Government House and take appropriate action if the allegations were established.
“We have to inform the members of the public, and we have to call on the security agents that we have been saying this, but it appears that security agencies are helpless,” Ayantunji said.
He questioned why security agencies had allegedly failed to intervene if the suspected thugs were indeed being accommodated within the Government House.
The APC campaign media committee subsequently warned that Governor Ademola Adeleke should be held responsible for any attack on APC members or other voters if the allegations were proven and violence occurred during the election.
“Therefore, we are telling the international community, the security agents in Nigeria, and all stakeholders that have anything to do with the Osun election, that if anything happens to our members tomorrow, or any electorate, Governor Ademola Adeleke should be held responsible for shielding political thugs in the Government House,” he added.
The allegations come on the eve of the Osun State governorship election, with political parties intensifying preparations and security agencies deploying personnel across the state to maintain peace and protect voters.
As of the time of filing this report, the allegations made by the APC Campaign Media Committee remained claims by the party and had not been independently established. Governor Adeleke and the state government were not quoted in the statement as responding to the allegations.
