Security agencies in the country, including the police, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) have deployed 25,310 operatives for the Osun State governorship election holding on Saturday.
The deployment comprises 15,000 police officers, 10,210 NSCDC personnel and about 100 EFCC officers, according to separate announcements by the agencies.
This is outside the numbers that are also expected to be deployed by other security agencies like the military and the Department of State Services (DSS).
Fourteen political parties are contesting the August 15, 2026 governorship election, with 2,339,233 registers voters.
Among the candidates, three have emerged as prominent contenders based on their political strength and visibility: incumbent Governor Ademola Adeleke of the Accord Party, Bola Oyebamiji of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and Najeem Salam of the African Democratic Congress (ADC).
On Monday, the NSCDC Commandant-General, Prof. Abubakar Audi, ordered the deployment of 10,000 personnel from 10 neighbouring state commands to reinforce security operations across Osun.
The personnel are being drawn from the Oyo, Ondo, Ekiti, Ogun, Lagos, Kwara, Edo, Kogi, Delta and Federal Capital Territory commands, with about 1,000 personnel from each command.
The deployment will complement the corps’ existing personnel in Osun and cover the state’s 30 local government areas, including polling units, electoral officials, observers, journalists and residents.
NSCDC spokesman, Afolabi Babawale, said specialised units, including the Commandant-General’s Special Intelligence Squad, Special Weapons and Tactics Unit, Specialised Female Squad, Mining Marshals, Special Strike Force, Crack Squad and K9 Unit, had also been deployed.
He said the units would support intelligence gathering, crime prevention, protection of critical infrastructure, crowd control and other election-related operations.
The NSCDC said its Deputy Commandant-General in charge of Operations, Ayuba Phillip, alongside designated Assistant Commandant-Generals and other senior officers, would relocate to Osun to supervise the corps’ election security operations.
Audi charged personnel to remain professional, neutral and respectful of citizens’ rights throughout the election.
He said, “our personnel have been properly briefed on the need to be professional, neutral and respectful in the discharge of their duties.”
The NSCDC boss also warned political thugs and others planning to disrupt the election that they would face the law.
“The NSCDC in collaboration with other security agencies on election duty will not tolerate any activity intended to jeopardise the election process; criminal-minded persons and political thugs willing to disrupt the peaceful conduct of the election would face the wrath of the law as prescribed in the Electoral Act.”
The Nigeria Police Force had earlier announced the deployment of 15,000 personnel to Osun for the election, including officers to be stationed at polling units and other strategic locations.
Similarly, a senior EFCC official revealed that about 100 personnel would be deployed to the state to prevent vote buying and other forms of electoral inducement.
(Ripples)