The All Progressives Congress governorship candidate for Osun State made the claim to a delegation from the British High Commission on Tuesday, at the APC Campaign Office in Osogbo where the party's records indicated that more than 40 APC members and supporters had allegedly been victims of politically related attacks across different parts of Osun State since 2022. No independent body has confirmed the figure.

The claim lands three weeks before Osun State votes for governor. The August 15 election pits Oyebamiji against incumbent Governor Ademola Adeleke, and it is being watched for signs of the violence Oyebamiji describes. If his allegations hold up, they raise questions about whether the vote can be called credible. If they don't, they raise different questions, about a candidate using foreign diplomats to pressure his opponent's government days before an election.

Oyebamiji's list is specific. He named killings and attacks on party members and supporters in Osogbo, Ota Efun, Ilesa, Irewole and Otan Ayegbaju. He went further, alleging the kidnapping and killing of an APC ward treasurer during the 2023 presidential campaign. Some of it is already before authorities. Oyebamiji said individuals linked to some incidents had been declared wanted by police or accused in the attacks, and called for all pending cases to be investigated and prosecuted according to law.

He wants outsiders watching. Oyebamiji urged the British High Commission and other international observers to closely monitor the August 15, 2026 governorship election. His reasoning was blunt. He said sustained election observation "before, during and after the governorship poll" would help ensure a credible, peaceful and transparent process. He was not vague about who he blames. Oyebamiji accused individuals allegedly linked to the Osun State Government and to Governor Adeleke's supporters of responsibility for the intimidation and violence.

Adeleke's office has not responded to the specific allegations in the reporting reviewed for this piece. No Osun Police Command statement addressing the 40-attack figure appears in that reporting either. That gap matters. A number this large, tied to a governing party's opponent, would ordinarily draw a rebuttal or a police accounting. So far it hasn't.

Behind the violence claims, the race itself is close and loud. Adeleke, first elected in 2022, is seeking a second term. Oyebamiji, a former Osun State Commissioner for Finance, is running as "AMBO," his campaign's shorthand for Asiwaju Munirudeen Bola Oyebamiji. Adeleke campaigned Monday in Ikire, Oyebamiji's hometown. He leaned on personal history there. Adeleke recalled attending Nawairudeen Grammar School in the town and said residents had supported him in 2022, asking for their votes again. The APC pushed into Adeleke's own hometown days earlier. The party's campaign council, led by Director-General Hon. Wole Oke, visited Ede, Egbedore and Ejigbo, urging residents to back a candidate who understands governance "beyond entertainment". Oke did not stop there. He criticized Adeleke's educational qualifications, arguing the governor lacks the capacity to govern effectively.

Both campaigns are collecting endorsements. Traders at Osogbo's Igbonna Market backed Oyebamiji, with the market association's secretary, Mrs. Okunoye Temitope, urging members to vote for him in the August election because of unmet needs in the market. Oyebamiji called the moment "unprecedented." Religious networks have joined in too. The Ansar-Ud-Deen Society's national president, Prince Musedik Kazeem Adeniji, a senior advocate of Nigeria, endorsed Oyebamiji, citing his contributions to the organization. That endorsement was delivered by proxy. Adeniji sent retired Justice Moshood Adekunle Adeigbe to speak for him.

A recurring message across Oyebamiji's stops is about the ballot itself, not the man casting it. Speaking Sunday to the Ansar-u-Deen Society in Osogbo, Oyebamiji urged voters not to sell their Permanent Voter Cards, telling them the card confers each person's right to decide who leads them. He tied that appeal to a promise. He said once elected he would "immediately return the state to the path of growth and development". It's a message he has repeated at multiple stops, including a rally in Ode-Omu where a former Minister of Police Affairs, Alhaji AbdulJelili Adesiyan, called him the most qualified candidate in the race.

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Nobody at these events has produced documentation tying the alleged attacks to any specific individual beyond the claims Oyebamiji himself has made. That is the hole in the story right now. The British High Commission has not said publicly whether it will deploy observers. The Osun Police Command has not issued a public tally of politically linked cases since 2022, confirming or disputing the APC's number. And Governor Adeleke, campaigning in the accuser's hometown, has not addressed the allegations directly in public remarks reviewed for this piece.

The vote is set for August 15. Whether the claims of violence get an official accounting before then, from either the police or the state government, remains the open question hanging over the campaign's final three weeks.