By The Nigeria Police Force has pushed back on reports that hundreds of officers deployed to Osun State for the August 15 governorship election have spent weeks in the state without adequate food or basic welfare support, insisting their continued presence is routine post-election procedure rather than neglect.
The Allegations
The clarification, issued Friday by Force Public Relations Officer CSP Anietie Iniedu at Force Headquarters in Abuja, responded to reports from some media organisations claiming that hundreds of personnel drawn from as many as 50 Police Mobile Force squadrons remained in Osun long after the election concluded. Those reports alleged that some officers were camped in difficult conditions, including in the Gbongan area, lacking adequate food and other basic provisions, with little operational activity to show for their continued presence.
Police Response
The Force framed the extended deployment as a deliberate, planned measure rather than an oversight. According to its statement, keeping personnel in place after the election helps sustain security, prevent post-election violence, respond to emerging threats and ensure a smooth handover back to normal policing, with the length of any deployment determined by operational and security needs rather than left open-ended by accident.
On the welfare claims specifically, the Force was direct in its denial, rejecting any suggestion that officers had been abandoned or left without adequate welfare support. It maintained that all personnel deployed for the election had received their approved entitlements and that command structures remained responsible for their welfare throughout the assignment.
The Force also pushed back on the framing of the reports themselves, arguing that describing a planned post-election deployment as institutional neglect misrepresents the operational realities on the ground and risks damaging both personnel morale and public confidence in the institution. It reaffirmed its commitment to the welfare of its officers, saying deployments would continue to be made strategically wherever needed to protect lives and property and maintain public peace, while urging media organisations to verify information, particularly claims sourced to unnamed persons, before publishing reports capable of misleading the public or undermining security operations.
Background
The August 15 governorship election was won by incumbent Governor Ademola Adeleke of the Accord Party, who polled 511,067 votes against 444,815 votes for APC candidate Bola Oyebamiji. Adeleke carried 19 of Osun’s 30 local government areas, with Oyebamiji winning the remaining 11. The contest and its aftermath have drawn sustained scrutiny, from reports of post-election violence to questions over the scale and duration of the security deployment that followed.
