The All Progressives Congress (APC) in Osun State has raised an alarm over the alleged mobilisation of political thugs into the State Government House ahead of Saturday’s governorship election, calling on security agencies to urgently intervene to prevent violence.

The party’s Media Committee member, Osun APC Campaign Council, Comrade Kehinde Ayantunji, raised the alarm on Friday while addressing a press conference at the State Council of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) Correspondents’ Chapel in Osogbo.

Ayantunji alleged that a large number of suspected political thugs had been mobilised into the Government House within the last few hours, claiming that some of those allegedly brought into the premises were not from Osun State.

He, therefore, called on the Inspector-General of Police, the Director-General of the Department of State Services (DSS) and other security agencies involved in the election to investigate the allegation and take urgent action.

He said, “We have mentioned this in almost all of our press conferences. I’m here to call on the Inspector-General of Police, the DG of the DSS and all other security agencies that are involved in the Osun election that tomorrow’s election is under serious threat with the behaviour of the Osun State Government.”

According to him, the APC had received intelligence indicating that suspected political thugs had been moving in and out of the Government House.

“As I’m talking to you now, we have intelligence that a large number of political thugs have been mobilised into the Government House.

“In the last two hours, they have been moving in and out, and our intelligence has confirmed that most of these people are not from this state,” he alleged.

Ayantunji further claimed that two individuals, whom he identified as “Olowe” and “Iberu”, were allegedly coordinating the movement of the suspected thugs.

He said the party had identified several vehicles allegedly used to convey the individuals into the Government House, including a dark ash Lexus Jeep with registration number KRD207IS, a Toyota Corolla with registration number AKD795GR, a red Volkswagen Golf with registration number AGL719 and another dark ash Lexus Jeep with registration number KRD210KS.

“We are not just raising this alarm; we have double-checked our intelligence, and we have pictorial evidence of what we are saying here this afternoon,” Ayantunji said.

He alleged that some of the suspected thugs were brought into Osun from Lagos, claiming that their alleged objective was to cause disruption in areas where the APC believed it had strong electoral support.

“The target is simple. Having realised the imminent defeat in the state’s capital territory, that is Osogbo, Irepodun and Egbedore, the agenda is to mobilise them with funds and ammunition to destabilise Ward 5, Osogbo Local Government; Ward 4, Ward 8, Okini, in Egbedore Local Government, Ido-Osun and Ofatedo,” he alleged.

Ayantunji said the alleged mobilisation required immediate intervention by security agencies, warning that the suspected thugs could be deployed at any moment.

“Our intelligence confirmed that these suspected political thugs have been adequately mobilised, and any moment from now, they might be moving around,” he said.

He expressed concern over what he described as the failure of security agencies to act on previous warnings by the APC.

“We have to inform the members of the public, and we have to call on the security agents that we have been saying this, but it appears that security agencies are helpless,” he said.

The APC representative further warned that the party would hold Governor Ademola Adeleke responsible if its members or voters were attacked during the election.

“We are saying to the international community, to the security agents in Nigeria, and to all stakeholders that have anything to do with the Osun election, that if anything happens to our members tomorrow, or any electorate, Governor Ademola Adeleke should be held responsible for shielding political thugs in the Government House; that’s supposed to be a sacred place,” he said.

Ayantunji also questioned the presence of an armoured vehicle at the entrance of the Government House, alleging that the vehicle was procured during the administration of former Governor Rauf Aregbesola and had recently been refurbished.

“The state government claimed to have refurbished it for the past six months, and those armoured tanks were not in use before. But yesterday, just for the election, those armoured tanks surfaced at the entrance of Government House,” he said.

He questioned why the armoured vehicle was allegedly being used to protect the Government House instead of being deployed to assist security agencies responsible for maintaining law and order during the election.

“We are surprised that he cannot give these armoured tanks to security agents who have a lawful duty to perform today, tomorrow and on Sunday,” Ayantunji said.

He alleged that the deployment of the armoured vehicle to the Government House could be connected to the alleged presence of suspected political thugs within the premises.

“That armoured tank is at the entrance of Government House, protecting Government House. We have no reservation to conclude that it might be a planned work just to protect the people that are being released from the prison, that are causing havoc in the state, who are residing in Government House,” he alleged.

Ayantunji stressed that the APC was not making blanket accusations against security agencies or the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), saying the party would continue to commend security personnel whenever they performed their duties effectively.

“We are not here to cast aspersions on any institution, either INEC or security agents, but when we observe or notice that we are seriously challenged, we definitely will not keep quiet,” he said.

He added that the APC was making specific allegations because of the seriousness of the situation.

“As far as this election is concerned, we are victims of this violence, but the governor has been using his vantage position as the governor to blackmail us because when he speaks, people will listen to him.

“That is why we need to put this on record, and I will provide the pictorial evidence to all of you, so you can see that we are making a specific allegation,” he said.

The APC chieftain urged members of the public, security agencies and other stakeholders to take the party’s allegations seriously and act to ensure a peaceful electoral process.

He said, “We say this loudly so that the members of the public and all concerned authorities can respond accordingly.”

As of the time of filing this report, the Osun State Government had not publicly responded to the specific allegations made by Ayantunji at the press conference.