The Imole Campaign Council, the campaign organisation of Osun State Governor and Accord Party governorship candidate, Ademola Adeleke, has raised the alarm over an alleged plot by the Independent National Electoral Commission to declare Saturday’s governorship election inconclusive.

The council described the alleged move as “sinister”, accusing unnamed governors and leaders of the All Progressives Congress of allegedly working to frustrate what it called Adeleke’s “imminent victory” at the poll.

Chairman of the Media and Publicity Committee of the council, Bamidele Salam, raised the allegation in a statement on Saturday, urging Nigerians and relevant authorities to closely monitor the collation of results.

The campaign council said the alleged plan was part of what it described as “last minute desperate moves” to undermine the outcome of the election and subvert the will of Osun voters.

It urged the INEC Chairman, Joash Amupitan, and the commission to uphold their commitment to conducting a free, fair and credible election.

The council also called on the Nigeria Police Force, Department of State Services and Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps to strengthen security around collation centres across the state.

It further alleged that ballot boxes had been hijacked at some polling units by suspected thugs, demanding the arrest and prosecution of those responsible.

The campaign organisation also appealed to local and international observers to pay particular attention to the collation process and raise the alarm over any development capable of undermining the integrity of the election.

The allegations came as INEC continued the uploading of polling-unit results to its Result Viewing Portal, with Adeleke recording an early lead in some of the results available on the platform.

At about 4:30 p.m. on Saturday, 903 of the 3,763 expected polling-unit results had been uploaded to the IReV portal, representing about 24 per cent of the total expected results.

Results reviewed from some polling units in Osogbo showed the Accord Party ahead of the APC, giving Adeleke an early advantage in parts of the state.

The figure later rose substantially as collation and uploading continued.

As of 5:51 p.m., results from 1,695 of the 3,763 polling units had been uploaded to the IReV portal, representing about 45 per cent of the expected polling-unit results.

Meanwhile, INEC officials had commenced the sorting and counting of votes at polling units across Osun State following the conclusion of voting.

The collation process is expected to determine the final outcome of the closely watched election, with the competing parties awaiting the official declaration by the electoral commission.