The headquarters of the Osun State Independent Electoral Commission (OSSIEC) in Osogbo, the state capital, has been sealed off.
In a video shared on the OSSIEC X handle, the Commission’s chairman, Hashim Abioye, accused the police of not only sealing the office but also arresting election officials and preventing journalists from covering the local government election.
He stated that several OSSIEC officials were detained while en route to polling units on Saturday.
Efforts to contact Abioye for additional information were unsuccessful, as his phone was switched off.
In his post, the OSSIEC chairman assured voters that election materials had been deployed to the affected areas.
“So far so good, the reports have been positive and the conduct has been very smooth and peaceful as against the false alarm raised by the police. Everywhere is calm,” Abioye said.
“The only thing is that in some of the areas in which materials are supposed to have arrived for voters to cast their votes, we had reports of police arresting our officials.
“I don’t know on whose order because there is no court order that warranted the arrest of officers of our officials.
“As it is, we have deployed materials to those units because we have enough on the ground.
“For our people in the media community, I want to apologise for the inadequacy of the tags and the jackets because we have enough but the police sealed our office and that was not warranted at all.”
Abioye’s remarks follow the police’s call for the state government to cancel the local government election, citing security concerns.
In a statement released on Friday by the Police Public Relations Officer, Olumuyiwa Adejobi, the police disclosed receiving credible intelligence about potential violence and significant security threats if the elections proceeded.
According to the police, intelligence reports indicated that various groups, including political factions and other stakeholders, were mobilizing to incite unrest, disrupt public peace, and destabilize the democratic process.
Despite acknowledging the police’s concerns, the Osun State government decided to proceed with the election.
According to reports, the election was held as scheduled on Saturday.