Against the backdrop of recent communal clashes in Osun, the national secretary of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Senator Ajibola Basiru, on Wednesday, chided Governor Ademola Adeleke, saying he had lost grip on security in the state.

He noted that the spate of communal disputes over the boundary in Ifon, Ilobu, and the latest skirmishes regarding chieftaincy matters in Esa Oke and Ido Ajegunle, leading to the shooting of seven policemen and destruction of properties indicate that Adeleke had failed to live up to his billing as chief security officer of the state.

Speaking at a chat with journalists in Osogbo, Osun State capital, Basiru contended that “the governor is only giving false hope to the people that he is in control but he is not. It is glaring that he is not with a series of communal clashes characterised by killing, maiming, arson, and loss of properties, among others.”

According to Basiru, “unfortunately, Adeleke is majorly the precipitator of these clashes and wrangling because he approved controversial chieftaincy matters to cause issues in peaceful domains.

“The protection of lives and property should be paramount to any responsible government but Adeleke has failed that, he also failed in other areas. I can assure you that APC will end all these shenanigans of Adeleke’s reign in 2026 and Osun will be the most peaceful state in Nigeria again, like the days of progressives.”

However, while responding to Basiru’s claims, the state Commissioner for Information and Public Enlightenment, Kolapo Alimi, said the APC national secretary was only playing politics with security issues, describing such development as unfortunate and ridiculous.

Alimi argued that Adeleke was effectively in control of the state’s security, adding that there had been no threat to the lives and property of the citizenry.

He said, “It is quite unfortunate that Basiru is playing politics with this matter. Adeleke visited all these places and also constituted a panel of enquiry to resolve the matter. The accusations are useless, fallacious, and laughable. Adeleke is not the cause of all the crisis.”