By Opeyemi Adelakun
The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project has called on the Independent National Electoral Commission, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission and the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission to jointly investigate alleged vote-buying, financial inducement, violence and other electoral offences recorded during Saturday’s Osun State governorship election.
The demand came on Sunday, hours after INEC declared Governor Ademola Adeleke the winner of the election, giving him another term in office.
SERAP, in a petition dated August 16, 2026, and signed by its Deputy Director, Kolawole Oluwadare, urged the three agencies to investigate allegations of vote-buying, illegal election financing, voter intimidation, violence, misuse of public resources and other violations linked to the poll.
The organisation said the investigation should be conducted jointly and transparently, irrespective of the election outcome.
SERAP also asked the agencies to trace the sources and movement of funds allegedly used for vote-buying and identify individuals who provided, authorised, distributed, financed or facilitated any unlawful payments.
It further demanded the preservation and examination of banking and mobile-money records, telecommunications data, closed-circuit television footage, polling-unit records and other documentary or digital evidence that could assist the investigation.
According to SERAP, the credibility of the election result depends partly on whether voters were able to exercise their franchise freely and without intimidation, inducement or coercion.
“The legitimacy and credibility of the Osun State election result ultimately depend upon whether voters were genuinely able to freely exercise their right to participation and political choice,” the organisation said.
SERAP said preliminary findings from the EU Support to Democratic Governance in Nigeria Election Observation Hub indicated that civil society observers had documented 323 electoral offences and irregularities across 726 polling units as of noon on Saturday.
The reported incidents included 103 cases of vote trading, 28 cases involving the alleged inducement of polling and security officials, 31 cases of voter obstruction and 38 cases of campaigning at polling units.
The observers also recorded 14 cases of voter impersonation, 12 cases of multiple voting, seven cases of election-official misconduct and 85 cases involving the exposure of ballot papers.
On security, SERAP said 38 incidents were recorded, including alleged thuggery, attacks on electoral officials and voter intimidation.
The organisation also cited reports from the Situation Room of the harassment of an election observer and alleged disruption by thugs.
The allegations have not been independently established as having affected the overall election result.
INEC had declared Adeleke the winner at about 7:24 am on Sunday after the collation of results from the state’s 30 local government areas.
Adeleke secured 511,067 votes, defeating his closest challenger, the All Progressives Congress candidate, Bola Oyebamiji, who polled 444,815 votes.
The governor won in 19 local government areas, while Oyebamiji secured 11. The African Democratic Congress candidate, Najeem Salaam, finished third.
SERAP nevertheless urged the agencies to examine compliance with Sections 91 to 94 of the Electoral Act 2026, particularly provisions governing campaign contributions, expenditure and sources of campaign funds.
It also called for the investigation and prosecution, where appropriate, of persons reasonably suspected of electoral, corruption or other criminal offences, including those who allegedly financed or facilitated such conduct.
“The three agencies should make their findings public and ensure that relevant evidence is available, where lawful and appropriate, to competent electoral tribunals and other accountability mechanisms,” SERAP said.
The organisation said such action would not only address alleged violations arising from the Osun election but could also help deter electoral corruption and violence ahead of the 2027 general elections.
SERAP further urged INEC, EFCC and ICPC to facilitate independent regional and international scrutiny through 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 accountability processes and strengthen transparency over the conduct of the election.
SERAP added that the agencies should publish their findings and take lawful action where credible evidence established that corruption, inducement, coercion or violence materially affected voters or the election process.
“We would be grateful for information on the steps being taken in response to this petition,” the organisation said.
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