The leading candidates in Saturday’s Osun State governorship election have expressed confidence in victory, while outlining the conditions that would determine their acceptance of the poll’s outcome.

The candidates, including the Accord Party’s incumbent governor, Senator Ademola Adeleke; All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate, Bola Oyebamiji; African Democratic Congress (ADC) candidate, Najeem Salaami; and Social Democratic Party (SDP) candidate, Dr Francis Ajala, said the election must be free, fair, transparent and devoid of intimidation.

They also called on the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and security agencies to provide a level playing field for all political parties and ensure that voters and supporters are protected throughout the exercise.

The candidates, however, maintained that they were confident of winning the election.

Speaking on behalf of Adeleke, spokesman for the Imole Campaign Council, Pelumi Olajengbesi, said the governor and his supporters were not contemplating defeat.

“Adeleke, our candidate, can’t be defeated. No one can defeat Governor Ademola Adeleke in Osun State today. So, we don’t even contemplate defeat,” he said.

Olajengbesi said the Accord Party would accept the will of the people, provided the electoral process remained transparent and credible.

He said security agencies must provide a neutral environment, while INEC must conduct the election transparently.

“One factor that will make us regard this election as credible is for the security agencies to provide a neutral, level playing field and for INEC to be transparent in its dealings throughout the electoral process,” he said.

He urged Adeleke’s supporters to turn out in large numbers to vote peacefully.

Similarly, the Osun APC expressed confidence that its candidate, Oyebamiji, would emerge victorious.

The party’s Director of Media and Information, Mogaji Kola Olabisi, said the APC had worked extensively for victory and had no reason to anticipate defeat.

“We cannot lose the election. The reward for hard work is success, which is expected of our governorship candidate, Asiwaju Muniru Oyebamiji,” he said.

Olabisi said the APC trusted INEC to conduct a free, fair, credible and inclusive election in accordance with the Electoral Act 2026, as amended.

He, however, said the party would resort to appropriate legal channels if it had reason to challenge the outcome.

“We are not pessimists in our party, and we expect our candidate to win the election clearly. However, I agree that legal channels are part of the acceptable processes for the governorship election and could be used if necessary,” he said.

The ADC also expressed confidence in its candidate, Salaami, with the party’s spokesman, Oluwaseun Abosede, raising concerns about the preparedness of INEC ahead of the election.

Abosede alleged that some of the party’s polling agents had yet to receive accreditation permits.

He said the conduct of INEC, security agencies, as well as the state and Federal Government, would determine whether the party accepted the election outcome.

“What INEC does, what security agencies do, what the state and federal governments do will determine our acceptance of the outcome of the election. Let’s wait till then,” he said.

Police deploy air, drone units

Meanwhile, the Nigeria Police Force has assured residents of adequate security during the election, announcing the deployment of personnel, air and drone units across the state.

The Force Public Relations Officer, CSP Edem Iniedu, disclosed this at a press conference in Osogbo on Friday.

He said police personnel had been deployed across the 30 local government areas, while each LGA would have a unit of the Police Mobile Force (PMF) for rapid response.

According to him, two units of armed PMF personnel had also been deployed to the INEC office to support the movement of electoral materials and other critical operations.

Seven Special Protection Units personnel would oversee the movement of sensitive and non-sensitive electoral materials and protect electoral officials.

Iniedu said the police were working with other security agencies to protect voters, electoral officials and materials throughout the election.

He also disclosed that a 24-hour call centre had been established to receive complaints of professional misconduct by police officers and other security personnel during the election.

He said allegations would be investigated and officers found culpable would face appropriate sanctions.

The police spokesperson added that Inspector-General of Police, Olatunji Disu, had directed that four police officers be deployed to each polling unit alongside personnel from other security agencies.

He urged residents to remain peaceful and comply with electoral laws.

Vehicular movement, he said, would be restricted across the state from midnight on Friday until Saturday as part of measures to ensure a peaceful election.

Iniedu also warned against underage voting, vote-buying and other electoral offences, saying anyone caught buying or selling votes would be arrested and prosecuted.

He urged political parties, candidates and residents to cooperate with security agencies to ensure a peaceful and credible governorship election.