Osun Election: Police Confirm Arrest of Accord Lawmaker, 146 Suspected ‘Mercenaries’

Osun Election: Police Confirm Arrest of Accord Lawmaker, 146 Suspected ‘Mercenaries’ 

 

The police have confirmed the arrest of an Accord Party lawmaker, Abiola Ibrahim Inaolaji, with about 146 people that reportedly gathered at his residence in Ikire, Irewole Local Government Area.

The development came on Saturday as the 2026 Osun governorship election commenced amid heightened security operations aimed at preventing electoral malpractices and other activities capable of undermining the credibility of the poll.

The police described the large group as suspected electoral mercenaries, while the lawmaker reportedly maintained that those at his residence were voters who had come to participate in the election.

Ibrahim, who represents the Irewole/Isokan State Constituency in the Osun State House of Assembly, was arrested in the early hours of Saturday by operatives of the Federal Bureau of Investigation-Intelligence Response Team (FBI-IRT).

Confirming the arrest, the Osun State Police Public Relations Officer, DSP Abiodun Ojelabi, said the lawmaker was apprehended alongside about 146 people suspected of being electoral mercenaries.

“He was arrested in Ikire for harbouring suspected mercenaries. He was arrested with about 146 people,” Ojelabi said, according to reports.

The arrest followed the emergence of a video showing security operatives confronting the lawmaker at the residence over the presence of a large number of people.

In the footage, Ibrahim identified himself as an Accord Party member and insisted that the people gathered there were voters.

He was quoted as saying that some of them were indigenes from outside the area, adding that he did not hire them or dictate how they should vote.

Reports also indicated that security operatives recovered more than 200 Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) during the operation, although details surrounding the ownership and circumstances of the cards remained subject to investigation.

The arrest comes against the backdrop of intensified security measures for the Osun governorship election, with security agencies under pressure to prevent vote buying, voter inducement, movement of voters across state boundaries and other forms of electoral manipulation.

The police said investigations were ongoing to establish the identities of those arrested, determine their roles and unravel the circumstances surrounding their presence at the lawmaker’s residence.

The suspects remain in police custody as investigations continue.