Osun Poll Tension Deepens as Accord Chieftain’s Son Is Killed

Osun is sliding into a dangerous election-season storm after police confirmed the recovery of a gunshot-riddled body in Ikire, sparking a vicious blame war between the Adeleke and APC campaign camps. With the deceased identified as Kolade Eluyera and both sides trading accusations before the facts are fully established, the killing has exposed the raw…

Atlantic Post

May 10, 2026

3–5 minutes

Accord Party, Ademola Adeleke, APC, Ikire, Kolade Eluyera, Osun election

A fresh wave of anxiety has swept through Osun State after the police confirmed the recovery of a lifeless body in Ikire, identified in multiple reports as Kolade Eluyera, said to be the son of the Irewole Accord Party Women Leader.

The Osun State Police Command said the body bore gunshot wounds and that an investigation had begun immediately, even as rival political camps moved quickly to frame the killing in their favour.

The timing could hardly be worse. INEC has fixed the Osun governorship election for Saturday, 8 August 2026, placing every security incident under a political microscope and making any act of violence an instant test of state control, campaign discipline, and police credibility.

Police Step In, But The Vacuum Is Loud

Police spokesman Abiodun Ojelabi said the command had not rushed to judgement, stressing that the case was under active investigation. In his words, “Investigation is on”, while the Commissioner of Police has also deployed more men to the area.

He added that officers were working with those who brought the corpse to obtain more information. That confirmation is important because, at this stage, the police have confirmed the death and the gunshot injuries, but not publicly assigned blame to any political group.

That distinction matters. In a state already edging towards an intense election season, a confirmed killing with no publicly established perpetrator creates a dangerous information gap.

Into that gap rushed the campaign machinery of the two leading political camps, each eager to shape the narrative before the facts are fully established.

Imole Campaign Council Fires First

The Imole Campaign Council, which is backing Governor Ademola Adeleke’s re-election bid, went on the offensive almost immediately.

Its spokesman, Pelumi Olajengbesi, alleged that the attack happened late on Friday near Onireke Mosque in Ikire and claimed suspected thugs linked to the APC were responsible.

He described the incident as “dangerously alarming” and called for an independent probe by the Inspector-General of Police, the DSS and other agencies.

The council’s central complaint is not only that a man was killed, but that, according to its allegation, earlier complaints and security warnings had already been made to the police in Ikire and to the Area Commander.

That claim, if eventually corroborated, would point to a much bigger problem than one isolated killing: a security structure that either did not hear the warning signs or did not act decisively enough on them.

For now, however, that remains the council’s allegation, not a judicial or police finding.

APC Rejects The Allegation

The response from the opposition camp was swift and equally combative. Kola Olabisi, speaking for the Asiwaju Munirudeen Bola Oyebamiji Governorship Election Campaign Council, rejected the accusation as politically motivated and urged the public to “allow the police to investigate” rather than weaponise the tragedy.

He said the claim was false, fabricated and designed to create political advantage out of a death that remains under police scrutiny.

That denial is not surprising, but it is strategically significant. In high-stakes local politics, a killing connected to a party structure can quickly become a rallying cry, a grievance machine and a recruitment tool.

That is why both camps are now battling not just over the death itself, but over who gets to define it first in the public mind.

What The Killing Reveals About Osun’s Political Climate

The Ikire incident has exposed a familiar and troubling pattern in Nigerian election season politics. First comes the violence or allegation of violence. Then comes the race to blame. Then comes the demand for a probe.

Only after that does the slow machinery of investigation begin to separate evidence from emotion. The public problem is that, by then, the political damage is often already done.

Osun’s security agencies now face a narrow and unforgiving test. They must establish whether the killing was politically motivated, criminally opportunistic, or linked to some other dispute.

They must do so quickly enough to calm a jittery public, but carefully enough not to let party pressure dictate the outcome.

On the public record so far, no side has produced independently verified evidence of who carried out the attack.

For the electorate, the larger fear is obvious. If a politically charged killing can happen with the state already moving towards an August governorship contest, then the real contest may not begin at the ballot box at all, but in the streets, the campaign trenches and the echo chambers of competing political statements. That is why the police conclusion will matter far beyond Ikire.

Osun is now under pressure to prove that its security institutions can still rise above party suspicion, restore confidence and prevent this death from becoming the spark that lights a wider political fire. Until the investigation speaks with facts, every allegation remains an allegation, and every denial remains a denial.