Osun Election: How APC, Accord Spent Over N100bn Amid Vote Buying

• APC and Accord allegedly deployed over N100bn in the Osun governorship election, with billions reportedly spent on vote buying, agents, security and electoral officials.

The All Progressives Congress (APC) and the Accord Party allegedly deployed more than N100bn for the August 15 governorship election in Osun State, with funds reportedly spent on vote buying, agents, canvassers, security personnel and electoral officers.

The alleged spending far exceeded the N3bn limit set by the Electoral Act 2026 for governorship candidates. Governor Ademola Adeleke of Accord won the election with 511,067 votes, defeating APC candidate Bola Oyebamiji, who polled 444,815 votes.

Findings attributed to multiple sources indicated that APC paid N100,000 to polling-unit agents, while Accord and allied parties paid N100,000 collectively to their agents in each unit. Large sums were also reportedly deployed to security personnel, ward officials and electoral officers.

Vote buying allegedly accounted for billions of naira, with claims that APC targeted voters with as much as N40,000 each, while Accord reportedly allocated N20,000 per targeted voter. Some voters were said to have received between N70,000 and N80,000 at certain polling units.

The reported expenditure has sparked fresh concerns over electoral integrity and compliance with Nigeria’s campaign-spending laws. Yiaga Africa Executive Director Samson Itodo called for the prosecution of parties found to have breached the legal spending limit and condemned the scale of alleged vote buying.

Both sides, however, have rejected allegations against them. APC officials challenged the Adelekes to provide evidence of the alleged spending, while the Accord campaign denied buying votes and insisted Adeleke won through the support of Osun voters.