OSOGBO — With the highly anticipated Osun State governorship election rapidly approaching, the executive governor of the state, Senator Ademola Adeleke, has officially called upon the federal security architecture to initiate the immediate redeployment of the state’s Commissioner of Police, Ibrahim Gotan. The governor’s high-stakes administrative demand is anchored upon severe, formal concerns regarding alleged institutional bias, a lack of professional neutrality, and an ongoing failure by the leadership of the state police command to remain impartial in the discharge of its constitutional duties as the state prepares for a crucial transition.
The governor made the direct demand on Friday morning amid a backdrop of escalating political volatility, heightened partisan rhetoric, and expanding civil anxieties regarding public safety across the state. The political temperature in the state has risen significantly as rival political machines intensify their grassroots mobilization efforts ahead of the off-cycle governorship poll scheduled to take place on August 15, 2026. Governor Adeleke raised the critical issue while receiving an elite, high-level delegation from the Nigeria Police Force headquarters, which had been dispatched to Osogbo by the Inspector-General of Police to conduct an emergency on-the-ground assessment of the local security environment following a series of recent political skirmishes, armed unrest, and localized thuggery.
In an official corporate statement issued shortly after the closed-door security meeting by the governor’s chief spokesperson, Olawale Rasheed, the state government expressed profound dissatisfaction with the operational conduct and strategic direction of the current Osun State police command. The executive administration insisted that immediate, sweeping structural changes within the command's top leadership are absolutely necessary to restore frayed public trust, guarantee the safety of the electorate, and ensure a peaceful, transparent, and credible electoral process. According to the governor’s official assessment, the current police leadership under Commissioner Gotan has fundamentally failed to inspire confidence among ordinary residents, civil society actors, and diverse political stakeholders.
“The Commissioner of Police has demonstrated a clear and consistent lack of willingness and capacity to act fairly, professionally, and without partisan bias in managing the security affairs of our state,” Governor Adeleke declared during his address to the visiting federal police emissaries.
The governor stated that vast swathes of the population across Osun’s thirty local government areas no longer trust the current commissioner to oversee complex security operations or manage tactical deployments in a fair, balanced, and professional manner, particularly as the critical election timeline enters its final, sensitive weeks. He argued that completely impartial, non-aligned policing remains the absolute cornerstone for maintaining civil peace, deterring criminal elements, and preventing politically motivated violence during the intense election period.
“The general consensus among the good people of Osun State is that the Commissioner of Police is heavily compromised and should be immediately moved out of the state before the commencement of the polls. Osun seeks fair policing, impartial policing, and security operations built entirely on a profound respect for the rule of law. We are not asking the federal government or the police command for any special favor other than the fair, unaligned protection of civilian lives and properties,” the governor asserted.
Adeleke strongly urged the visiting evaluation delegation to relay the urgent institutional concerns of the Osun State government directly to the highest echelon of the Nigeria Police Force leadership in Abuja. He stressed that the citizens of the state desire a completely peaceful, non-threatening environment where registered voters can freely exercise their democratic franchise at the polling units without the fear of intimidation, harassment, or physical violence from state actors or political thugs.
“We explicitly task this delegation to convey our unwavering position to the police leadership of which you are an integral part. Osun people want free, fair, and transparent polls. Our people seek a peaceful, calm atmosphere to cast their votes. We need a comprehensive reshuffling of the state police command structure to secure impartial policing for all parties involved,” the governor added.
This direct executive intervention by Governor Adeleke comes on the heels of mounting pressure from ordinary residents, grassroots community leaders, civil society organizations, and various political interest groups who have raised alarms over the existing security arrangements. Just days prior to the governor’s pronouncement, thousands of residents in several major urban centers across Osun State staged public demonstrations, marching through the streets to demand the immediate transfer of Commissioner Ibrahim Gotan over systemic bias and overt partisanship. The peaceful demonstrators blamed the recent spike in targeted political violence on weak law enforcement, a lack of proactive policing, and a failure by security agencies to ensure legal accountability for politically motivated attacks against opposition figures, warning that the lack of prosecution has continued to embolden political thugs.
Civil society organizations have also strongly aligned themselves with the calls for the commissioner’s immediate redeployment. A prominent coalition operating under the umbrella of the Network of Osun Civil Society Groups recently issued a formal petition to the Inspector-General of Police, demanding immediate administrative action based on documented cases of unprofessional conduct within the state command, warning that public confidence in the neutrality of the state's security apparatus is rapidly disintegrating as the August 15 election draws near.
