• Coalition Petitions EU, UN, Insists On Credible Election
• Urges UK, U.S. To Sanction EFCC Chairman, As Accord Demands Resignation
• Reps Minority Caucus Questions Tinubu’s Order To EFCC 
• APC Campaign Council, Adeleke Bicker Over Oath-taking Video

Ahead of the August 15, 2026 governorship election in Osun State, various groups, on Friday, voiced their concerns over the process, alleging intimidation and abuse of state institutions by the Federal Government.  
 
Against this backdrop, a coalition of civil society organisations and former leaders of the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) have petitioned the United States Embassy, British High Commission, European Union (EU) and United Nations (UN) in Abuja, seeking urgent diplomatic intervention to ensure a peaceful, free, fair and credible governorship election in Osun State.
 
This is even as the Accord Party, Chief Maxwell Mgbudem, on Friday, called for the immediate resignation of the Chairman of the EFCC over the commission’s controversial decision to freeze the Osun State government’s bank accounts.
 
Similarly, the Minority Caucus of the House of Representatives has questioned President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s control over the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), following the controversy surrounding the freezing of the Osun State government’s accounts.
 
The caucus described the President’s directive to the anti-graft agency to vacate the order freezing the accounts as a panicky, belated afterthought, arguing that the development exposed contradictions within the Federal Government.
  
The groups, in separate petitions dated August 6, 2026, expressed concern over what they described as rising political tension, alleged violence, intimidation, abuse of state institutions and other developments capable of undermining the credibility of the August 15 governorship election.
 
They also called on the international community to consider sanctions, including visa restrictions and asset freezes, where legally applicable, against individuals found responsible for sponsoring electoral violence.
 
They specifically urged the U.S. authorities to consider sanctions against the EFCC chairman over what the coalition described as the commission’s alleged role in actions capable of undermining the electoral process.
 
Speaking to journalists after submitting the petitions, representatives of the groups, Comrade Olayinka Dada and Prince Igwe Ude-Umanta, said the international community must pay close attention to developments in Osun, arguing that the election would serve as an important test of Nigeria’s democratic resilience ahead of the 2027 general election.
 
In one of the petitions addressed to the United States Ambassador, the coalition said recent developments had heightened concerns among citizens, civil society organisations and other stakeholders over the prospects of a peaceful and credible election.
 
The organisations alleged incidents of violence, intimidation and unresolved killings, which they attributed to political actors. They also accused the Federal Government of deploying state institutions in ways they claimed had created an uneven playing field in favour of the All Progressives Congress (APC).
 
The groups specifically cited the recent freezing of the Osun State government’s bank account by the EFCC, describing the action as politically troubling and capable of undermining public confidence in the electoral process.
 
They urged the U.S. Mission to publicly reaffirm its support for constitutional democracy, the rule of law and credible elections in Osun State and Nigeria.
 
The coalition also called on the U.S. Government to engage President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and political parties, particularly the APC, to ensure that the election is conducted peacefully and in accordance with the constitution and relevant electoral laws.
 
It urged political actors to refrain from violence, intimidation and the alleged misuse of security agencies and public institutions, while calling on the electoral body and security agencies to discharge their responsibilities professionally, impartially and in accordance with citizens’ rights.
 
In a separate petition, the former NANS leaders said their history of student activism and participation in Nigeria’s pro-democracy struggle compelled them to speak out against developments they believed could erode the country’s democratic gains.
 
They urged the U.S. Embassy to engage the Federal Government and all political parties to promote adherence to constitutional principles and internationally recognised democratic standards.
 
The former student leaders also called for equal political opportunities for all candidates, neutrality and professionalism by security agencies, support for domestic election observation and civic participation, as well as sustained diplomatic engagement to strengthen electoral integrity.
 
They stressed that Nigeria’s democratic stability has implications beyond its borders, arguing that the outcome of the Osun election would be significant to the country’s democratic trajectory ahead of the 2027 general election.
 
Addressing a press briefing in Abuja on Friday, the National Chairman of the Accord Party, Chief Maxwell Mgbudem, demanded the immediate resignation of the EFCC chairman “for embarrassing the President, the party, the Government and people of Osun State and fellow citizens.”
   
“The EFCC chairman should toe the path of honour and tender his resignation. If he fails to resign, President Tinubu should sack him immediately to restore the integrity of the anti-graft agency. There should be no sacred cow in the quest to sanitise the anti-corruption commission in particular, and the democratic system in general,” he said.
 
According to Mgbudem, the EFCC’s action in freezing the Osun State government’s accounts on August 5 amounted to an abuse of constitutional powers and represented an attempt to influence the outcome of the governorship election.
 
He alleged that the anti-graft agency’s action, alongside what he described as earlier security intimidation, reinforced public concerns about an alleged attempt to undermine the Adeleke administration and manipulate the electoral process in favour of the APC.
 
He, therefore, called on the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to conduct a free, fair, credible and transparent election.
 
He also urged security agencies to remain neutral throughout the electoral process
 
The party chairman commended President Tinubu for directing the reversal of the account freeze, describing the intervention as timely and patriotic. 
  
However, the Minority Caucus of the House of Representatives has said the President’s intervention appeared to have followed widespread public criticism of the EFCC’s action.
 
In a statement jointly signed by the Minority Leader, Fredrick Agbedi, and the caucus spokesman, Afam Victor Ogene, which was made available to journalists in Abuja on Friday, the caucus specifically questioned the conflicting positions attributed to the EFCC and the President on whether a valid court order existed for the freezing of the accounts.
 
According to the lawmakers, EFCC spokesman, Wilson Uwujaren, had stated on national television that the accounts were frozen “without a valid court order,” while the President later directed the commission to approach the court to vacate the order.
 
“So, which is it? Was there a court order or not?” the caucus asked.
 
The lawmakers questioned whether the President was fully aware of the actions and public statements of his appointees.
 
“Is the President not aware of what his own appointees are saying and doing? Has the President lost control to his army of sycophants who behave like lords over the people? Or are they simply trying to hide an illegality that has already been exposed?” they asked.
 
The Minority Caucus also accused senior presidential aides of initially circulating and defending the EFCC’s position on the account freeze before the President intervened.
 
“It is, therefore, insulting for the President to pretend ignorance… Nigerians are not fools,” the lawmakers said. 
 
The caucus said the controversy was part of what it described as a broader pattern of pressure on the Osun State government ahead of the governorship election.
 
It cited the alleged withholding of statutory allocations to Osun local governments, violence allegedly perpetrated by APC members and suspected thugs, the arrest and detention of the Secretary to the State Government, Teslim Igbalaiye, and the conduct of the state Commissioner of Police.
 
The lawmakers criticised what they described as allegations by the police that the Osun State government was harbouring hoodlums in the Government House.
 
“This is not policing. It is partisan propaganda in uniform,” the caucus said.
 
The Minority Caucus accused the APC-led Federal Government of using federal institutions to mount pressure on opposition-controlled states, describing the Osun situation as a possible “dress rehearsal” for the 2027 general election.
 
“The mask is off. Nigerians can now see clearly that the APC has weaponised federal institutions against opposition states – a dress rehearsal of what is to come in the 2027 general election,” it said.
 
The lawmakers urged President Tinubu to allow the people of Osun State to freely determine their leadership through the ballot, without intimidation or coercion.
 
“Violence, intimidation, economic sabotage and the misuse of federal agencies have NO place in a democracy,” they declared.
 
The caucus also appealed to civil society organisations and the international community to hold the APC and the Federal Government accountable for any breakdown of law and order before, during and after the election.
 
“Osun is not a conquered territory. You will not rig this election through EFCC, through the police or through thuggery. Osun people will vote. Osun people will be protected. And democracy will prevail,” the lawmakers said.
 
Meanwhile, the Campaign Council of the APC in Osun and the camp of Governor Ademola Adeleke, on Friday disagreed over a viral video allegedly showing some supporters of the latter swearing to an oath before being induced financially ahead of next Saturday’s gubernatorial poll in the state.
 
While the APC Governorship Campaign Council in a statement by its Head, Media and Publicity Committee, Remi Omowaiye, said the video indicated the desperation of the governor to perpetrate vote buying for his re-election ambition, Adeleke’s media aide, Hezekiah Bamiji Oladele, distanced his principal from the video.
 
The video, sighted by The Guardian, showed a man donning an Accord Party fez cap making some individuals pledge allegiance to vote for the governor before they will be given an unspecified amount of money.
 
Reacting to the incident, Omowaiye accused Adeleke of vote buying, noting that the video “represents a dangerous descent into political desperation and an affront to the democratic values that guarantee every citizen the freedom to vote according to their conscience without coercion, intimidation or manipulation.”
 
He added:  “The emergence of these videos has further confirmed what is already obvious to every discerning observer – that Governor Ademola Adeleke has seen the unmistakable handwriting of defeat on the wall. Having failed to convince the people with his record in office, he has now resorted to frightening vulnerable citizens into pledging supernatural allegiance in a desperate bid to retain power.
 
“It is indeed tragic that after almost four years in office, a government that has impoverished and pauperised thousands of Osun residents has reduced the same people to the point where they are willing to invoke severe curses upon themselves if they fail to support the Accord Party and Governor Adeleke at the polls. Nothing could better illustrate the level of economic hardship and hopelessness inflicted on the people by this administration,” he stated.
 
Responding, Oladele, a Senior Special Assistant to Adeleke on Media, distanced his principal from the video, contending that the governor was upbeat about his electoral victory in the August 15 poll.
 
He described the viral video as a failed attempt to tarnish the image of the state governor and explore cheap blackmail, which he said would not make the electorate vote for the APC.
 
“Adeleke would not send anybody to go and take an oath for whatever amount of money they want to get. Be that as it may, any viral video to that effect did not emanate from our people and certainly and definitely not from Mr. Governor.
 
“Mr. Governor is continuing with governance with so many people working with him. He is not a desperate person. He’s not the type that bothers about tomorrow because it is his nature to believe in God. The same God has kept him this far and it is not now that the governor will be sending anybody to go and take oath on his behalf for whatever reason. Mr. Governor has nothing to do with oath taking,” he added.