N1,000 notes for women at APC rally: Is this vote buying or 'empowerment'?

A video is circulating online that shows a young man in an 'AMBO' T-shirt handing N1,000 notes to a group of women in Osogbo. This is the team of the APC governorship candidate, Bola Oyebamiji, and the timing could not be more brazen. The Osun State governorship election is scheduled for August 15, 2026, just two days away, and this is what we are seeing.

Now, the APC is holding a mega rally in Osogbo, and Senator Adams Oshiomhole is there saying, "Let's be clear, we are a party of peace, which is why we are called progressive. The only ink we need is the black ink for you to put your thumbprint on, not anybody's blood." Meanwhile, Senate President Godswill Akpabio is telling Oyebamiji that "the people need dividends of democracy; they don't need social media." The hypocrisy is staggering. They speak of peace and dividends while their foot soldiers are literally distributing cash to voters on camera.

This is not about a few hungry women collecting alms. This is a calculated act of voter inducement, a criminal offence under the Electoral Act. The question is not whether it happened, because we all saw the video. The question is whether INEC and the security agencies will do anything about it before Saturday. Or will we again watch them look away while the highest bidder walks into the Government House in Osogbo?