By John Dike, Osogbo
The governorship candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) in Saturday’s Osun State governorship election, Nojeem Salaam has raised concerns over the alleged failure of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to recognise and issue accreditation tags to some of his party’s agents across the state.
The candidate, who spoke with journalists in Ejigbo during the ongoing election, described the development as “worrisome and disturbing,” saying it could undermine the ability of the party to effectively monitor the collation and counting of votes at polling units.
According to him, although the party had uploaded the names of its agents on the INEC platform as required, some of them were allegedly denied tags, thereby preventing them from being formally recognised at their designated polling units.
Salaam specifically cited Ward 5 in Ejigbo, where he said ADC agents were not issued tags, adding that similar incidents had been reported in about 10 local government areas across the state.
“So far, so good. However, the report that my agents are not being recognised at most of the wards across the state is worrisome and disturbing,” he said.
“Despite the fact that we uploaded all the names of our party agents, especially here in Ejigbo, the agents in Ward 5 for the ADC were not given tags. The same thing happened in about 10 local governments across the state.”
The candidate said he had reported the matter to the relevant authorities and that efforts were being made to address the situation.
He stressed that the presence of accredited party agents was crucial to the credibility and transparency of the electoral process, particularly during the counting and recording of results.
“When the votes are being counted, it is necessary for my agents to be recognised at the polling units,” he said.
The ADC candidate, however, said voting in Ejigbo Local Government Area had so far been peaceful, expressing hope that the situation would remain calm until the conclusion of the exercise.
“Apart from that, in Ejigbo Local Government, the process has been going on without any crisis for now. I want to believe it will remain peaceful until the end of the exercise,” he said.
He maintained that the alleged denial of accreditation tags could not be ignored, arguing that political parties complied with INEC’s directive to upload the names of their agents ahead of the election.
“As it stands, we cannot accept a situation where our party agents are not recognised. The importance of having party agents at the polling units cannot be overemphasised,” he said.
“All the names were uploaded onto the INEC platform, so I don’t understand why we are now being denied the opportunity to have our party agents present.”
The candidate said he might address journalists again at the end of the election to provide an update on the steps taken to resolve the issue.
He also expressed confidence in his chances of winning the election, provided the process was free, fair and devoid of manipulation.
“If there is a fair election, with no rigging or manipulation, and there is a level playing field, I trust my God that I’m going to win the election,” he said.
The ADC candidate also denied any involvement by his party in vote-buying, saying the party’s campaign was based on engaging voters and explaining its programmes to them.
“Definitely, it cannot be my party. We are not involved in that. We engage with the people and let them know about our programmes. That is exactly what we do. Vote-buying is out of it. I have never in my life bought votes,” he said.
He urged voters to freely choose the candidate they preferred, stressing that the electorate should be allowed to exercise their franchise without interference.
“People should decide whom they want, and I think it should be fair enough for them to have the right to choose whom they prefer as a candidate or as the governor of the state,” he added.
Voting continued peacefully in Ejigbo and other parts of Osun State as voters cast their ballots in the keenly contested governorship election. The final outcome will depend on the counting, collation and declaration of results by INEC.
