Residents of Osun State have allegedly been paid ₦10,000 each and made to swear a religious oath to vote for Governor Ademola Adeleke ahead of the forthcoming governorship election, according to a viral video circulating on social media.
Key Highlights
- Viral video allegedly shows residents receiving ₦10,000 before taking an oath.
- Individuals in the video are alleged to be loyalists of Governor Ademola Adeleke.
- The incident comes days before the Osun governorship election.
- The allegations have not been independently verified by electoral authorities.
- Vote buying remains a major concern in Nigeria’s electoral process.
The video purportedly shows a group of residents, mostly women, receiving cash before reciting an oath allegedly administered by individuals identified as supporters of Governor Adeleke.
In the footage, the participants are heard repeating an oath after a coordinator, pledging to vote for the incumbent governor while invoking biblical blessings if they fulfilled the promise and curses if they failed to do so.
Part of the oath heard in the video states:
“I will vote for Demola Adeleke. I promise to be a faithful and honest person… If I refuse to do it, all the troubles and calamities in the Bible should be mine. But if I collect money and vote for him, all the goodness in the Bible should be mine.”
The authenticity of the video and the identities of those involved have not been independently verified, and there has been no official response from Governor Adeleke or the Osun State Government as of the time of filing this report.
The development comes just days before voters head to the polls in what political observers have described as one of Nigeria’s most closely watched off-cycle governorship elections.
The allegation also follows recent political controversy surrounding the freezing of the Osun State Government’s bank accounts by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC). President Bola Tinubu subsequently directed the anti-graft agency to take immediate steps to unfreeze the accounts after expressing concern over the timing of the action.
The EFCC has maintained that the account freeze was based on an ongoing investigation into the alleged diversion of about ₦11 billion in Ecology Funds, Intervention Funds and Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) allocations, insisting that its actions were not politically motivated.
Read also:
- Gunmen Abduct Principal, 4 Students, NECO Official In Kogi
- Protest Erupts as Akwa Ibom Community Accuses Oil Firms of 17 Years of Neglect, Demands New Bridge
- Protesters Block Ibadan’s Iwo Road, Demand Release Of Abducted Pupils, Teachers
The emergence of the alleged vote-buying video has renewed concerns over the integrity of the forthcoming election.
Vote buying has remained a recurring challenge in Nigerian elections despite repeated assurances by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), security agencies and anti-corruption agencies that offenders will be investigated and prosecuted.
Civil society organisations have consistently warned that voter inducement, intimidation and other electoral malpractices undermine democratic credibility and public confidence in the electoral process.
