The All Progressives Congress (APC) and the Accord Party allegedly deployed more than N100 billion during the August 15 governorship election in Osun State, according to findings reported by Saturday PUNCH.
The money was reportedly used for campaign activities, payments to party agents and canvassers, security personnel, electoral officials and alleged vote-buying operations across the state’s 3,763 polling units, 332 wards and 30 local government areas.
The reported spending would be far above the N3 billion campaign expenditure limit set for each governorship candidate under the Electoral Act 2026.
Governor Ademola Adeleke, who contested under Accord, won the election with 511,067 votes, defeating the APC candidate, Bola Oyebamiji, who polled 444,815 votes.
According to sources cited by Saturday PUNCH, APC polling-unit agents were paid N100,000 each, while Accord agents received N20,000. Accord also reportedly paid agents representing other parties it enlisted to support its campaign.
Based on the 3,763 polling units, the reported payments amounted to hundreds of millions of naira.
The APC also reportedly paid its ward collation officers N120,000 each, amounting to about N39.84 million across the state’s 332 wards.
Security personnel deployed to polling units were also reportedly paid by multiple parties and the state government. According to the report, APC paid N100,000 per polling unit, while Accord paid N80,000, with the state government allegedly providing an additional N50,000.
The reported spending on security personnel across the polling units was estimated at N865.49 million.
Billions allegedly spent on vote-buying
The biggest reported expenditure was alleged vote buying.
According to sources cited by Saturday PUNCH, the APC allocated N40,000 per targeted voter. The money was reportedly distributed in stages before and during election day.
A former local government chairman and APC chieftain claimed that some local governments received between N80 million and N500 million for the operation.
Based on the newspaper’s calculations, the APC’s alleged vote-buying expenditure amounted to about N22.578 billion.
The party also reportedly appointed 30 canvassers in each polling unit, paying each canvasser N10,000. This was estimated at approximately N1.1289 billion across the state.
Accord reportedly used a different payment structure, with an average of 150 targeted voters per polling unit allegedly receiving N20,000 each.
That calculation would amount to approximately N3 million per polling unit, or about N11.289 billion across all 3,763 polling units.
The report also alleged that Accord paid about N1.1289 billion to its canvassers.
A senior aide to Governor Adeleke, who spoke anonymously, reportedly confirmed the N20,000-per-vote figure but said the money was distributed before election day rather than on the day of voting.
He estimated that Accord could have spent at least N40 billion on the election.
There were also reports of voters receiving substantially higher amounts in some areas. At one polling unit in Ilesa East Local Government Area, voters were reportedly offered as much as N70,000 each.
The allegations have not been established as proven facts by a court, and the figures represent estimates and claims from sources cited in the report.
The reported scale of spending has nevertheless raised fresh questions about vote buying, campaign finance and enforcement of Nigeria’s electoral spending limits.
