Munirudeen Bola Oyebamiji, the All Progressives Congress governorship candidate for Osun State's 2026 off-cycle election, alleged Friday that opposition actors are fitting vehicles with his campaign materials and using them to carry out criminal activities. He made the claim publicly, before journalists, immediately after Jumat prayers at the Mallam Tope Central Mosque in Osogbo.

The allegation arrives less than a year before Osun's off-cycle governorship election, in a state where political competition between the APC and the ruling Peoples Democratic Party has historically been sharp. If the claim is true, it describes a coordinated reputational attack on a major candidate. If it is not, it is itself a political maneuver. Neither possibility has been resolved.

Oyebamiji did not name any individual, group, or faction as responsible for the alleged vehicle branding. He did not cite a police report, a recovered vehicle, an arrest, or any documented incident that would allow independent verification of his account. His statement, as delivered to journalists on Friday, rests entirely on his own assertion.

His exact words, as published: "I also used the opportunity to address the disturbing reports of mischief by desperate elements who are branding vehicles with my campaign materials to perpetrate criminal acts and tarnish my name."

The phrase "disturbing reports" implies prior circulation of the claim, but Oyebamiji did not identify the source of those reports, whether they originated in news coverage, social media, or internal campaign intelligence. No specific criminal incident, date, location, or vehicle description was provided.

The Candidate's Position

Oyebamiji was unambiguous about his campaign's stance. "I have always lived as a law-abiding citizen and I will never depart from that path," he said, adding that his campaign is "founded on peace, decency and issue-based engagement." He urged security agencies and Osun residents to "remain vigilant and not fall for the antics of those whose only strategy is deception and fear."

That call to security agencies is the most consequential element of Friday's statement. It places the allegation, at least rhetorically, in the domain of law enforcement. But as of the time of this report, no statement from the Osun State Police Command, the Department of State Services, or any other agency confirmed receipt of a formal complaint related to vehicle impersonation connected to Oyebamiji's campaign.

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The APC candidate's campaign office had not issued a supplementary statement with supporting documentation by the time this article was prepared.

The Setting and Its Function

The choice of venue carries its own significance. Oyebamiji addressed journalists after observing Jumat prayer at the Mallam Tope Central Mosque, one of Osogbo's central Muslim worship sites. Osun State has a substantial Muslim population, and the optics of making a political statement in that context, framed around integrity and divine guidance, are not incidental.

During the service itself, Oyebamiji thanked God for mercy, sought divine guidance for the state, and expressed gratitude to the congregation for their prayers. The transition from religious observance to press statement on criminal allegations, within the same public appearance, reflects a campaign style that blends community engagement with rapid political messaging.

What the Opposition Has Not Said

No opposition party representative responded to Oyebamiji's allegation in the statements reviewed for this report. The Peoples Democratic Party, which currently controls the Osun governorship under Governor Ademola Adeleke, had not issued any public response to the vehicle-branding claim as of Friday evening. Silence is not confirmation and it is not denial. It is, at this stage, simply an absence of record.

Oyebamiji did not direct his allegation at any specific party or candidate. The word he used was "desperate elements," a formulation broad enough to include internal party rivals, external opposition, or actors with no formal political affiliation.

The Broader Context

Osun has been a competitive and legally contested state. The 2022 governorship election between Adeleke and then-incumbent Adegboyega Oyetola went to tribunal before Adeleke's victory was upheld. The political environment heading into 2026 is therefore one in which both sides have reason to monitor each other's campaign conduct closely, and in which allegations of misconduct carry electoral weight.

Vehicle branding as a form of political impersonation is not unknown in Nigerian electoral history. Documented cases in other states have involved third-party actors affixing candidate materials to vehicles used in incidents intended to discredit campaigns. But documentation, in each of those cases, involved police recoveries, witness accounts, or photographic evidence. Oyebamiji's Friday statement offered none of those.

He did, however, make a direct public demand. He called on residents to "disregard any attempt to link his campaign to criminal activities" and appealed for continued prayers and support, assuring the public of his "commitment to restoring purposeful leadership."

The Unresolved Question

The central matter here is evidentiary. Oyebamiji has made a specific and serious allegation: that identified, if unnamed, actors are committing crimes using vehicles marked with his campaign materials. That allegation either rests on evidence his campaign possesses but has not disclosed, or it does not yet rest on documented evidence at all.

The Osun State Police Command has not confirmed whether a formal report has been filed. No case number, no station, no officer's name has been attached to this claim. Until one of those exists, the allegation remains a press statement, not an investigation.