Today, Aug. 15, 2026, about 1,906,390 out of 2,339,233 registered voters in Osun State will head to the polls to elect their preferred gubernatorial candidate from 15 candidates. The South Western state has held seven gubernatorial elections since the start of democratic rule.
DUBAWA and its partners under the Nigerian Fact-Checking Coalition (NFC) are monitoring public interactions for misinformation and disinformation to verify. See the claims and verdict below.
CLAIM 1
CLAIM: An X user, @Boripe_, claimed (archived here) that APC thugs carted away election materials in Ada, Boripe LGA, Osun State.
FINDINGS: The Nigerian Fact-checkers’ Coalition (NFC) contacted the Osun INEC Resident Electoral Commissioner, Oluwatoyin Babalola, who said she had not received any report of such an incident. We also contacted the state’s Commissioner of Police in charge of election security, Samuel Etaifo, who said there had been no such report.
VERDICT: INCORRECT
SOURCE: Osun INEC REC and Osun CP Election
DATE: 15/08/2026
AUTHOR: Catherine Adeniyi
EDITOR(S): Lois Ugbede & Simbiat Bakare
CLAIM:2
CLAIM: An X user, @abdulmojeed_ola, claimed (archived) that Osun State Governor, Ademola Nurudeen Adeleke, has agreed to collapse his Accord Party structure to support the African Democratic Congress (ADC) candidate, Najeem Salam, in today’s gubernatorial election, Saturday, August 15, 2026.
A similar claim was shared on Facebook here.
FINDINGS: The ADC, in a statement earlier today on Saturday, August 15, 2026, debunked the claim. It clarified that the party has not collapsed its structure or entered into any arrangement to support Governor Adeleke or the Accord Party. The ADC also added that Adeleke has not collapsed his structure into the party to support Salam.
A check of the Facebook page of Governor Adeleke’s Imole campaign council showed that it has not yet issued a statement regarding the claim. No reputable news organisation has confirmed this claim to be true at the moment.
VERDICT: INCORRECT
SOURCE: ADC Press statement
DATE: 15/08/2026
AUTHOR: Pascal Ibe
EDITOR(S) Bamas Victoria & Simbiat Bakare
CLAIM 3
CLAIM: An X user asserts (archived link) that 146 suspected imported thugs were arrested at an Osun lawmaker’s residence.
Similar claims were found on Facebook here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, and here.
FINDINGS: According to media outlets, the voters were reportedly carrying newly issued Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) and were said to be camped at the residence of Hon. Abiola Ibrahim, a member of the Osun State House of Assembly representing the Irewole-Isokan Constituency.
According to Punch Newspapers, the Osun State Police Command confirmed the arrest of Hon. Abiola Ibrahim in connection with the incident. They also reported that 146 suspects were arrested.
VERDICT: CORRECT!
SOURCE: Leadership Newspapers, Daily Post, Punch
DATE: 15/08/2026.
AUTHOR: Lademi Aborisade
EDITOR(S) Bamas Victoria & Simbiat Bakare
CLAIM 4
CLAIM: Several X users have claimed that the APC distributed cash ahead of the Osun governorship election while sharing the same video.
In a post (archived here), @PO_GrassRootM wrote: “Osun APC candidate keeps distributing ₦1,000 notes to voters ahead of the election.” Another user, @NNasarawa1, posted the video (archived here) with the caption: “#RenewedHope How Cash Is Allegedly Being Distributed Ahead of the Osun State Governorship Election.”
A similar claim was found on Facebook here.
FINDINGS: The video, in circulation since August 13, 2026, shows a man wearing an AMBO campaign T-shirt handing N1,000 notes to a group of women. AMBO is the campaign name of Munirudeen Bola Oyebamiji, the APC governorship candidate.
Punch reported on the same video on August 13, two days before the election, noting that the development came as the APC held a mega rally in Osogbo, the state capital, in support of its governorship candidate.
VERDICT: CORRECT.
SOURCE: Punch Newspapers, Researcher Observation
DATE: August 15, 2026.
FACT CHECK AUTHOR: Blessing Muonwe
EDITORS: Bamas Victoria & Simbiat Bakare
CLAIM 5
CLAIM: An X user @salawueedris1 claimed (archived here) the police released a video of 33 “imported voters” from Ekiti and Ondo states arrested at Babs Hotel Ede.
Similar claims were found on Facebook here and here.
FINDINGS:
The Osun State Police Public Relations Officer, Abiodun Ojelabi, told the Nigerian Fact-Checkers’ Coalition that 33 people were arrested in Babs Hotel, Ede: 30 men and three women, for being brought in to vote.
He said they are still being interrogated, and many of them did not know who recruited them. While the Police said they could not confirm if the circulating video is genuine, a reverse image search led to a news report by Leadership newspaper. Leadership, with an image which bears similarities to the video, reported that the police said the suspects were brought in from Ondo State for unlawful electoral activities.
VERDICT: PARTLY CORRECT
SOURCE: Osun PPRO and Leadership Newspaper
DATE: 15/08/2026
FACT CHECK AUTHOR: Catherine Adeniyi
EDITOR(S): Lois Ugbede and Simbiat Bakare