Osun State Governor Ademola Adeleke has declared that his people will not bow to intimidation as the August 15 governorship election approaches, following the detention of his Secretary to the State Government, Teslim Igbalaye, by police who recovered N4.8 million, voter cards and a ward-by-ward voter register from his residence.
With ten days to the Osun governorship election, the heat is rising — and it just reached the governor’s inner circle.
Teslim Igbalaye, Secretary to the Osun State Government, was detained on Wednesday night alongside five others after police operatives raided his private residence in Osogbo. What they found inside set off immediate alarm bells about the integrity of the August 15 poll.
Osun Police spokesperson Abiodun Ojelabi confirmed the raid and disclosed the haul in a statement, as reported by TheCable. Officers recovered N4.8 million in cash, a Dynabook laptop, a photocopier, a printer, two voter cards and — critically — a voter register covering Wards 1 to 15. “The recovery of the cash and the register containing voters’ details raises serious concerns over possible electoral offences and other criminal activities,” Ojelabi said.
Governor Adeleke did not directly address his SSG’s detention in a post on X on Thursday morning, but his message was pointed nonetheless. “Throughout the history of Osun State, our people have never bowed to intimidation. We are resilient, determined, and fiercely protective of our rights,” he wrote, insisting that no external interference or harassment would shake the state ahead of the election.
The development adds a combustible element to an already tense pre-election environment in Osun. The state has witnessed a series of high-tension incidents in recent weeks, including violent clashes between rival NURTW factions that prompted the governor to suspend the union’s activities and drew a sharp constitutional challenge from the union’s national leadership.
The APC, whose candidate Asiwaju Munirudeen Bola Oyebamiji faces Adeleke in the August 15 poll, has not yet publicly commented on the SSG’s detention.
Igbalaye remained in police custody as of the time of this report. Investigation into the alleged electoral offences is ongoing.
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