Forget manifestos for a minute. In Osun right now, the talk is all about envelopes. Voters are saying agents are handing out between N10000 and N20000 plus bags of rice and salt, and in some places even making people swear an oath before they collect.

This is quite dramatic even by Nigerian election standards.

According to cbinews.tv, the buildup to today’s Osun governorship election has been dominated by an alleged vote-buying bazaar with the All Progressives Congress and the Accord Party accused of going head to head with cash.

And this time it did not start on election day. Voters said the distribution started about six days before the poll, with some party agents allegedly collecting account numbers a week earlier with a promise to credit voters after they vote.

The main contenders are Governor Ademola Adeleke, who is contesting on the platform of the Accord Party, Bola Oyebamiji of the APC, Najeem Salaam of the African Democratic Congress and nine other candidates. INEC says 1,906,390 voters who have collected their Permanent Voter Cards are expected to vote across the 30 LGAs today.

How it allegedly played out across the state:

In Ilesa, residents in Ilesa East, Ilesa West and Atakunmosa East said APC agents were sharing N20000 per voter from Tuesday to Friday at the homes of ward chieftains. In Iroye and Imo, it was reportedly cash plus rice, with beneficiaries allegedly told it would not be well with them if they collected and did not vote for AMBO, which is Oyebamiji's campaign acronym.

In Osogbo and Iwo, sources claimed the APC targeted 150 voters per unit at N15000 each, while in Iwo LGA a huge sum of N700000 was allegedly budgeted per polling unit across 170 polling units.

In Ila, Ife, Ikire, Ede and Boluwaduro, the pattern was similar but the price kept changing. In Ila, Accord was said to have increased its offer from N10000 to N20000 while APC offered N15000. In Ile Ife, Hausa community members in Sabo said they were paid after PVC checks. In Boluwaduro, Accord agents allegedly asked voters to swear by the Ogun deity to vote for Adeleke. In Ede, the Governor’s hometown, Accord was said to have started sharing N10000 two weeks ago, initially offering N1m per 100-person group.

Both sides have tried to spin it. One APC chieftain in Ilesa West said it was not vote buying but transport money.

Vote buying is not new in Osun. The 2018 governorship rerun was heavily criticised for it, and the 2022 election saw anti-graft operatives make arrests in Osogbo. What is different this time is the scale and the timing. Starting cash distribution six days early is a new tactic to beat the usual election day security dragnet. Analysts say Osun, with its high literacy rate and history of progressive politics since the days of Chief Bola Ige, has always been a swing state where federal might and state incumbency clash, so inducement becomes a tool to swing low-turnout units.

The police have now warned that anyone caught buying votes will be arrested and prosecuted.

For now, all these remain allegations, and both parties have not officially responded to the claims.

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