Barely 16 days to the August 15th 2026 Osun State Gubernatorial Election, the incumbent Governor, Ademola Adeleke, candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Asiwaju Munirudeen Bola Oyebamiji, alongside twelve other candidates, have signed the Peace Accord.
Other notable candidates are the Allied Peoples Movement, Hon Adewale Adebayo, and the African Action Congress (AAC), Olajide Esan, among others.
The candidates from the 14 political parties contesting the guber seat were present, while those absent were represented by their party officials.
The APC guber candidate was represented by his deputy, Engr Kayode Adereti, and other party executives, while the candidate of African Democratic Congress (ADC), Najeem Salam, was represented by his party officials, including the State Chairman.
The peace pact was organised by the National Peace Committee (NPC), in partnership with the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), and the signing of the document was witnessed by the Convener of NPC, Bishop Mathew Hassan Kukah; the Inspector General of Police, Olatunji Disu, represented by AIG, Zone XI, Fasuba Olabode; and INEC Chairman, Prof Ojo Amupitan, traditional rulers led by the Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Ogunwusi, among others.
In his opening remark, the former Archbishop of the Catholic Church, Abuja, Cardinal John Onaiyekan, charged stakeholders to embrace responsibility to deliver a free, fair, and credible election, noting that “there is a need to embrace a peaceful poll. This election will go. I urge you to respect all the dictates of the Peace Accord you are all signing today.”
The IGP’s representative, Olabode, disclosed that police operatives are arriving in the state for election duty, assuring professionalism.
“Don’t entertain any fear. Police have started entering the state for election duty. Only the recognised security agencies will be allowed for election duties. All things will go well before, during, and after the election.”
The Chairman of INEC, Prof Amupitan, lauded the NPC for the initiative, noting that it will further help the electoral umpire to achieve its assignment of delivering a peaceful poll.
He disclosed that “We are attacking vote-buying head-on. In direct synergy with the EFCC and ICPC and the Office of the Attorney-General of the Federation, plainclothes financial intelligence officers will saturate polling unit perimeters. Anyone attempting to buy or sell votes—whether through physical cash or digital transfers—will be arrested and prosecuted under the Electoral Act 2026.”
In his address, the Ooni of Ife, Oba Ogunwusi, admonished residents to eschew violence and not be used by politicians for electoral fraud.
He said, “Power belongs to the people; power is in the hands of all of us. So I want to appeal to each and every one of us. We do not want violence.
The political tension is too much, and you know our political gladiators.”
“I always tell everybody there is no permanent friend among them; we are the ones who will suffer. Later on, they will go and align and leave all of us behind. They are always aligning, agreeing, and disagreeing. But what is critical is that Osun is bigger than all of us.”
Credit: thenationonlineng.net
