Ibrahim Adefila, the Youth Party's senatorial candidate for Osun Central in the 2027 elections, has issued a direct appeal to voters, security forces, and rival campaigns ahead of the 2026 Osun state governorship election, urging that the exercise be conducted without bloodshed. In a statement made exclusively available to Legit.ng on Friday, August 14, 2026, Adefila stressed that his interest in the contest is purely civic, as his party has no candidate on the ballot, framing his intervention as the concern of an ordinary citizen rather than a partisan actor.
Adefila Calls for Calm as Tension Rises
Adefila acknowledged that political rhetoric in Osun had grown more heated in recent weeks than the situation warranted. He called on all candidates who signed the peace accord brokered by the National Peace Committee to enforce that commitment downwards, making clear to their supporters that violence carried out in a candidate's name works against that candidate, not for them. He urged that any grievances arising from Saturday's vote be channelled through election tribunals rather than through confrontation on the streets.
"Nothing on Saturday's ballot is worth a single life. Elections will come and go, but we owe a duty to protect our common patrimony and our communities, which will outlast every contest," Adefila said. "On Sunday morning, we will still be neighbours, worshipping side by side and trading in the same markets. We as a people have always been a state that disagreed vigorously and chose peacefully. Saturday must be no different."
Appeal to Security Agencies
Turning to the security agencies deployed across the state, Adefila urged them to protect voters at polling units, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) officials handling ballot boxes, and collation officers responsible for result sheets, while enforcing the law impartially regardless of the political affiliations of those causing trouble. "Protect the voter in the queue, the corps member behind the ballot box, and the collation officer with the result sheet, without fear or favour. Apply the law equally, whoever's poster the troublemaker carries. Osun is counting on you, and Osun is watching you," he said.
A Direct Message to Osun Youths
Furthermore, Adefila reserved his sharpest words for young voters, who he noted make up the largest bloc on the state's voters' register. He urged them to show up at polling units in spite of any intimidation, warning that a low turnout would only reward those who rely on fear to shape outcomes. He also cautioned against vote-buying. "A stomach fed for one day cannot pay for four years of bad government. Your PVC is more powerful than any weapon, and it draws no blood," the senatorial hopeful stated. To youths specifically, he added: "We are too valuable to be anyone's weapon and too numerous to be anyone's victim. Let no one rent our anger."
Adefila closed with a reference to Osun's identity. "Osun is the State of the Living Spring. Let Saturday prove it. May the best conduct win, and may Osun win above all," he said.
Earlier, Legit.ng reported that INEC began distributing sensitive electoral materials to all 30 local government areas in Osun state on Thursday, August 13, 2026, ahead of Saturday's governorship election. The exercise is taking place at the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) office in Osogbo, the state capital. INEC National Commissioner for the Osun election, Professor Kunle Ajayi, said the materials arrived later than planned because ballot papers and other items had to be reprinted in Abuja before they could be shipped to the state.
