The declaration of Ademola Adeleke as winner of the Osun governorship election has been followed by a call for a formal investigation into alleged vote-buying, financial inducement, violence, and other electoral offences recorded during the poll.
The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project, SERAP, made the demand in a petition dated Sunday and addressed to the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, and the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission, ICPC.
SERAP’s intervention came hours after the State Returning Officer, Prof Joshua Ogunwole, declared Adeleke of the Accord Party winner of Saturday’s election with 511,067 votes. His closest challenger, Bola Oyebamiji of the All Progressives Congress (APC), secured 444,815 votes.
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323 incidents cited
SERAP based its call partly on preliminary observations attributed to the EU Support to Democratic Governance in Nigeria Election Observation Hub.
The organisation said civil society observers had documented 323 electoral offences and irregularities across 726 polling units by noon on Saturday.
The reported incidents included 103 cases of vote trading, 28 instances of inducement involving polling and security officials, 31 cases of voter obstruction and 38 instances of campaigning at polling units.
Observers also recorded 14 cases of voter impersonation, 12 cases of multiple voting, seven incidents involving election-official misconduct, and 85 cases in which ballot papers were exposed.
SERAP said 38 security incidents were also documented, including alleged thuggery, attacks on electoral officials and voter intimidation. It added that an election observer was reportedly harassed and that thugs allegedly disrupted proceedings.
Financial trail under scrutiny
In the petition signed by its Deputy Director, Kolawole Oluwadare, SERAP asked the three agencies to jointly examine the financial and criminal dimensions of the allegations.
It called for the tracing of funds allegedly used for vote-buying and unlawful election financing, including the identification of those who supplied, authorised, distributed, or facilitated such payments.
The organisation also requested the preservation and examination of banking and mobile-money records, telecommunications data, CCTV footage, polling-unit documents, and other digital evidence.
SERAP asked the agencies to examine compliance with Sections 91 to 94 of the Electoral Act 2026, particularly provisions governing campaign contributions, expenditure, and funding sources.
It further requested that persons found to have committed offences be investigated and, where sufficient evidence exists, prosecuted.
SERAP seeks independent scrutiny
The group also proposed participation by the African Union, ECOWAS, the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights, and relevant United Nations human-rights mechanisms.
It said such scrutiny would complement domestic investigations and provide an independent assessment of the reported violations.
SERAP maintained that the investigation should proceed regardless of the election’s outcome, arguing that accountability for alleged electoral malpractice is essential to public confidence and the credibility of future elections.
It asked INEC, EFCC and ICPC to publish their findings and make relevant evidence available to competent electoral tribunals and other lawful accountability bodies.
