Politics
APC, PDP Bicker Over Attack On Osun Governor’s Wife’s Convoy
The ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, and the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, in Osun State have disagreed over attack the Governor’s wife’s convoy.
Some hoodlums had on Friday night attacked the Governor’s wife, Alhaja Kafayat Oyetola and her convoy in a gridlock in Owode-Ede in Ede-North local government area of the state, home town of the Governor-elect, Senator Ademola Adeleke.
However, the APC while alleging that the attack was perpetrated by thugs loyal to the PDP, the latter opined that the attack was self-inflicted, blaming security details in the convoy for attacking a truck driver, whose faulty vehicle caused the gridlock.
The PDP in a statement by the Director of Media and Publicity, Oladele Bamiji accused the security details in the convoy of beating up the truck driver which prompted reaction from people at the scene, without knowing who was in the convoy.
“We call on the First Lady to apologise to the truck driver who was inhumanly treated. It is not enough to rush him to the hospital. The First Lady should atone for the sins of her overzealous escorts unless she was responsible for the directive to beat up the innocent driver.
“Instead of blaming the PDP, we call on officials of the outgoing government to be mindful of their interface with the people of Osun state. Our people have been badly governed with harsh economic pains under a clearly inhuman administration.
“It is unacceptable and reprehensible for a First Lady and her team to assault a citizen and turned round to blame the opposition”.
However, the APC Chairman, Gboyega Famodun in a statement issued by his media aide, Kola Olabisi described the PDP’s explanation as an afterthought and face saving.
In Famodun’s words:. “The attack on the governor’s convoy where some of her security officers sustained various degrees of injuries further confirmed and authenticated the list of the APC leaders that the state PDP was accused to have earmarked for attack since the INEC announced Adeleke as the winner of the July 19, 2022 governorship election in Osun State.
“There is no justifiable reason under the sun why the PDP should orchestrate the needless attack on the wife of the governor. One cannot buy wondered why the hitherto peaceful ancient Edeland could be turned into a perpetual abode of violence where the sacredness of the lives of fellow human beings means nothing to some desperado political power mongers”.
Meanwhile, the state police command in a statement by the Public Relations Officer, Yemisi Opalola said five persons have been arrested in connection with the incident.
She added that investigation is ongoing on the incident.
Prof. Amupitan gave the warning on Saturday, in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, during the South-South Zonal Readiness Assessment and Interactive Staff Engagement organised ahead of the 2027 general elections.
He said insecurity remained a potential challenge to the electoral process but stressed that the Commission would not allow threats against its personnel to undermine its constitutional responsibilities.
“Insecurity may pose a challenge, but our collective constitutional resolve is far stronger. Let me again send a clear message from Port Harcourt: anyone who attempts to threaten, intimidate, or harm our ad-hoc staff, NYSC members, or permanent personnel will be brought to justice under the full weight of the law,” he said.
The INEC Chairman, who was accompanied by National Commissioners, directors and technical aides, disclosed that the South-South engagement was the fifth in a series of zonal assessments, following similar exercises in the South-West, North-West, South-East and North-East.
He explained that his physical presence across the geopolitical zones reflected the Commission’s field-first approach, emphasising that electoral integrity must be established through effective operations at the grassroots.
According to him, the assessment would cover operational preparedness across the 123 Local Government Areas in the six South-South states.
On election security, Prof. Amupitan said INEC had moved away from reactive security arrangements traditionally activated around election day to a proactive, intelligence-driven framework known as the “ICCES Tentacle”.
He explained that the framework was designed to extend inter-agency security coordination from national and state headquarters to local government areas and Registration Area Centres, including remote communities.
He identified three critical pillars of the framework as mapping and mitigating security threats, protecting electoral personnel and infrastructure, and guaranteeing safe access to polling units.
The INEC boss said the security arrangement would provide comprehensive protection for electoral personnel, technological infrastructure, including Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) devices and server infrastructure, as well as voters.
He added that the framework was intended to ensure that every polling unit, irrespective of its geographical location or history of security challenges, remained safe and accessible for the exercise of democratic rights.
Prof. Amupitan disclosed that the South-South security architecture comprised approximately 60 major operational formations, headquarters and state commands operating under the Inter-Agency Consultative Committee on Election Security (ICCES).
The network, he said, brings together military, naval, air, police and other security and intelligence agencies across the six states.
“Together, this integrated multi-agency network represents the operational backbone that guarantees intelligence-led protection across every riverine creek, coastal axis, and land-based polling unit in the Niger Delta,” he stated.
Providing an overview of the region’s electoral significance, the INEC Chairman said the South-South had the fourth-largest voting bloc in the country, with 15,823,550 registered voters, representing 15.30 per cent of the national register.
Rivers State alone, he said, accounts for 3,736,434 registered voters spread across the 23 local government areas.
Alhaji Abubakar made the demand following revelations that some INEC registration officers allegedly abused their access to the voter registration system to introduce irregular records into the database.
In a statement issued by his Director of Strategic Communications, Mr Phrank Shaibu, the former vice-president described the development as a serious breach of the Commission’s internal safeguards and raised concerns about the integrity of the electoral process.
He urged INEC to identify the officials implicated in the alleged misconduct and explain what disciplinary or legal measures had been taken against them.
Alhaji Abubakar also called for an independent forensic audit of the preliminary voters’ register to establish the scale of the alleged manipulation, identify affected records and determine how the questionable entries were introduced into the system.
He further insisted that INEC preserve all relevant voter records, image files, system access logs and electronic audit trails to prevent the destruction or alteration of evidence before an independent examination could be conducted.
The former vice-president also demanded that the Commission disclose the identities of companies contracted to produce sensitive election materials ahead of the 2027 polls, arguing that transparency was essential to building public confidence in the electoral process.
INEC’s Director of Information and Communication Technology, Dr Lawrence Bayode, had earlier disclosed during a television interview that some registration officers across the country allegedly used their official login credentials to introduce irregularities into the voters’ database.
Dr Bayode explained that the Commission’s Automated Biometric Identification System helped identify questionable records and establish how some irregularities entered the system.
He, however, clarified that not all suspicious photographs were AI-generated, as some resulted from poor registration procedures.
The development followed public concerns over suspected AI-generated photographs, alleged duplicate entries and other inconsistencies discovered in the preliminary voters’ register published online on October 26, 2026.
INEC has maintained that the published document is a preliminary register and that it is reviewing questionable records ahead of the certification of the final Register of Voters.
The controversy has intensified calls for greater transparency and accountability in the management of the voters’ register as preparations gather momentum for the 2027 general elections.
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