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The African Democratic Congress (ADC) has demanded an explanation from the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) over the reported suspension of result uploads on its IReV portal during Saturday’s Osun State governorship election.
In a statement, the party’s spokesperson, Bolaji Abdullahi, congratulated Governor Ademola Adeleke on his victory but raised concerns about an alleged interruption in the electronic transmission of results on election night.
The party said its intelligence report indicated that “at approximately 8pm last night, INEC was directed to stop uploading election results on IREV when it became apparent that the APC was losing.”
According to the ADC, the alleged directive resulted in “several hours of interruption in the uploading of results,” which it said election monitors and observers also noticed.
“The ADC hereby demands a comprehensive explanation from the Independent National Electoral Commission regarding the observed interruption in the uploading of election results to the IReV portal for nearly four hours on election night,” the statement said.
“INEC must tell Nigerians precisely what happened,” it added.
The party said it was awaiting INEC’s explanation but claimed it had “reasonable grounds to believe that an attempt was made by the ruling party to tamper with the results of the election and to render the process, at least, inconclusive.”
It argued that the alleged interruption would have succeeded had it not been for what it described as the “timely alarm” raised by Adeleke, alongside election monitors and observers.
The party said the development should be investigated because it could indicate what it expects from the All Progressives Congress (APC) ahead of the 2027 general elections.
“ADC believes that this attempted heist is indicative of what the APC is capable of doing in the coming general elections,” it said.
“This is why INEC must give a full account of what happened in those few critical hours. We must not allow the euphoria of this victory to blind us to the dangers that lie ahead.”
The party nevertheless praised Osun voters for what it described as their resistance to intimidation and political pressure.
It congratulated Adeleke on what it called a “decisive victory” and praised the people of the state for standing against “overwhelming forces of intimidation and manipulation.”
The ADC said the election demonstrated that “when a people make up their minds about the future they want, there is a limit to what intimidation, money and the machinery of government can accomplish against their collective will.”
It also alleged that the APC deployed significant political and governmental resources to the state during the election.
“The APC’s entire political machine descended on one of the smallest states in Nigeria, with more than 30 state governors leading the invasion,” the party said, adding that the Senate president, Speaker of the House of Representatives, legislators and other senior government officials were also mobilised.
The party accused the officials of seeking to help President Bola Tinubu secure victory for the APC in Osun.
The ADC further alleged that the scale of security deployment, arrests, intimidation and violence could have discouraged voters, but said these measures instead strengthened their resolve.
“The sheer scale of security deployment could easily have discouraged ordinary citizens from exercising their democratic rights, but it only succeeded in making the people more determined even as they faced instigated violence, arrests, and intimidation,” it said.
The party said the outcome had wider implications for Nigeria’s political future, arguing that citizens could peacefully reject poor governance through elections.
“Osun has shown that this is possible,” it said.
The 2026 Osun governorship election was held on Saturday, with 14 candidates cleared to contest.
Adeleke, who contested on the platform of the Accord Party, was seeking a second term, while the APC fielded former Osun finance commissioner Bola Oyebamiji.
INEC declared Adeleke the winner after he polled 511,067 votes against Oyebamiji’s 444,815 votes.
The election was closely watched because of the political history between Adeleke and the APC in Osun. Adeleke defeated then-incumbent Governor Gboyega Oyetola of the APC in the 2022 governorship election.
The ADC, positioning itself as a major opposition platform in the months leading up to the 2027 elections, said the Osun result should not lead Nigerians to overlook concerns about the conduct of the poll.
It warned that the APC would not “surrender power easily” unless confronted by what it called electoral inevitability.
The party said, “A government may deploy power everywhere, but it can not deploy it inside the ballot booth.”
It concluded by declaring: “The time to end APC bad governance has come.”
16 August 2026
PRESS STATEMENT
OSUN: ADC CONGRATULATES ADELEKE, OPPOSITION, QUESTIONS INEC IREV SUSPENSION
-Says governor’s election is victory for democracyThe African Democratic Congress (ADC) celebrates the victory of Ademola Adeleke in Saturday’s governorship election in… pic.twitter.com/gskZGVyXMC
— African Democratic Congress (@ADCNig) August 16, 2026
