Osun Election 2026: Tension as 18 'Killed' Ahead of Polls, Details Surface

• APC and Accord Party separately claimed a combined 18 of their members were killed during the electioneering period in Osun state
• A civil society group recorded 44 election-related violent incidents and 13 fatalities in Osun between October 2025 and June 2026
• The deployment of 15,000 police officers for the August 15 governorship election has divided political parties and civil society groups in the state

Legit.ng journalist Ridwan Adeola Yusuf has over nine years of experience covering politics, elections, and governance in Nigeria and Africa.

Osogbo, Osun state - Tension is mounting in Osun state days before its August 15, 2026, governorship election.

As reported on Sunday, August 9, by Vanguard, the All Progressives Congress (APC) and Accord Party have each claimed that their members were killed during the campaign period, bringing their combined death toll to 18.

The APC campaign council said 10 of its members lost their lives in Ilesa, Iwo, Osogbo, Ijebu-Jesa and other communities, while the Accord Party put its own losses at eight, with killings reported in Oriade, Ijebu-Jesha, Ilobu, Ikire and Osogbo. Neither figure has been independently verified as a single confirmed death toll, but the allegations have significantly raised fears of reprisal attacks before and after the poll.

The Kimpact Development Initiative, a civil society group, documented 44 election-related violent incidents across the state between October 2025 and June 2026, resulting in 13 fatalities.

Osun election season marked by violence

Individual incidents have punctuated the build-up to the election. In May, Accord Party member Kolade Eluyera was killed in Irewole Local Government Area, with the party blaming APC supporters, a claim the APC rejected. On June 3, the Accord Party chairman in Osogbo Local Government, Asimiyu Ajibola, was shot by gunmen and hospitalised. A separate killing was also reported in Esa-Oke, where Accord supporter Ajayi Rogba died during the period of heightened political activity. Campaign convoys in Ede, Osogbo and other towns were also attacked.

The two parties have continued to blame each other for the violence.

Osun election: 15,000 police deployed ahead

The deployment of 15,000 police officers to the state has drawn sharply contrasting responses. The APC campaign council's Kehinde Ayantunji said the number mattered less than the professionalism and equipment of those deployed.

Ayantunji added:

"Most important thing is not about number, it's about the professional conduct of the Police, capacity to protect the people's vote."

Accord Party media director Oladele Bamiji questioned the mathematical logic of the deployment given that Osun has nearly 4,000 polling units, saying it was "not so big" and even inadequate compared to smaller states like Ekiti.

The civil society coalition, The Osun Masterminds, warned that the heavy deployment amounted to militarisation of the electoral process. Spokesperson Ayo Ologunde argued that police uniforms create fear among citizens, could trigger voter apathy, and would leave neighbouring states with thinner security coverage on election day.

Others backed the deployment. Convener of Dialogue 365, Saka Waheed, said:

"We demanded for protection, now we are having it. We cannot call it militarisation, the incessant killing in the past months show that if there is no enough security, there may be further killings on election day."

Former House of Assembly Committee chairman Olatunbosun Oyintiloye added that the heavy security presence may reflect intelligence available to the federal government, describing such deployments as routine during elections while urging agencies to address concerns over extrajudicial killings.

Stakeholders have called on political parties and their supporters to show restraint, and urged security agencies to use their presence to protect voters rather than suppress turnout.

Read more on Osun election 2026

• Oyebanji, Adeleke to know fate as INEC announces dates for Ekiti, Osun governorship elections
• Osun 2026: 5 reasons Adeleke may win second term bid
• Osun 2026: 3 reasons Ademola Adeleke may lose second term bid
• Governor Adeleke opens up on possible defection from PDP to APC after meeting Tinubu

Osun election 2026: Uzodimma taunts Davido

Earlier, Legit.ng reported that Hope Uzodimma, the governor of Imo, responded to comments made by Afrobeats star David Adeleke, popularly known as Davido, over the forthcoming Osun state governorship election.

Uzodimma told the singer to prepare to sign his uncle, Governor Ademola Adeleke, as a dancer after the poll.

Adeleke is a chieftain of the Accord, a party he joined in 2025.