The wife of Osun State Governor, Ademola Adeleke, Ngozi Adeleke, has urged eligible voters across the state to come out and exercise their franchise in Saturday’s governorship election, assuring residents that voting was proceeding peacefully.

Speaking shortly after casting her ballot, she said there was no intimidation, rancour or fighting at her polling unit, and called on Osun residents who were yet to vote to leave their homes and participate in the exercise.

In a video message shared after voting, the governor’s wife stressed that she was speaking with authority on behalf of every indigene of the state, declaring that the process was going on peacefully with no form of intimidation recorded at her location.

She described participating in the election as a civic responsibility that residents owed themselves and the state, appealing directly to those still undecided to head to their respective polling units before the close of voting.

Her remarks come shortly after Governor Adeleke himself cast his ballot at Ward 02, Polling Unit 009, Abogunde Compound, in Ede North Local Government Area, as the incumbent seeks re-election on the platform of the Accord Party. The assurance of a peaceful process stands in contrast to concerns raised in the lead-up to the poll, with the Adeleke campaign’s Imole Campaign Council having repeatedly accused the police of intimidating and detaining its supporters in the weeks before the election, allegations the police have denied. Voting continued across the state’s 30 local government areas on Saturday, with security personnel deployed to various locations amid heightened scrutiny of the process from political actors, civil society groups and residents keen to see a credible outcome.