Salaam made the allegations shortly after arriving at his polling unit at 10:39 a.m. on Saturday, emphasizing that the ADC had duly uploaded the names of its agents onto INEC’s designated portal prior to the election.

He described the alleged oversight as “worrisome and disturbing,” warning that it could severely hinder the party’s ability to monitor the vote counting and collation process at the polling units.

According to Salaam, all ADC agents in Ward 5 of Ijebu were denied their tags, with similar reports emerging from approximately 10 local government areas across Osun State.

“The report of my agent not being recognised in most of the wards across the state is worrisome and disturbing,” Salaam stated.

He underscored the vital importance of accredited party agents being present to observe and verify the integrity of the vote counting. “Because when they are counting the votes, it will be necessary for my agent to be recognised at the polling unit,” he added.

Salaam confirmed that the party has officially reported the matter to the relevant authorities, who are currently investigating the complaints. He noted that, despite the issue, voting in Ijebu appeared peaceful.

The ADC candidate questioned how INEC could fail to accredit agents whose details had been properly submitted via the commission’s own platform. “When you request the party to upload their party agent, and we did, I don’t understand how and why the party agent will not be given a tag,” he said. “So if at the end of the day we do not have this, then the process is very questionable.“

Despite this setback, Salaam expressed optimism about his chances of winning, provided INEC ensures a level playing field and voters are allowed to cast their ballots without interference. “For it to be a fair and free election, with no rigging, manipulation, a level playing field, I trust my God that I’m going to win the election,” he asserted.

Furthermore, the ADC candidate refuted accusations that his party was involved in vote buying, insisting that the ADC focused solely on presenting its campaign programmes to the electorate.

“We converse with the people, we let them know our programmes, and that is exactly what we do. Vote buying is out of it. I have never in my life bought votes,” Salaam declared.

Concluding his remarks, Salaam advocated for the freedom of voters to choose their preferred candidate, while voicing concern over reports of large sums of money allegedly circulating in the state during the election.

“People will decide whom they want, and I think it should be very fair enough for them to have the right to choose whom they prefer as a candidate or as the governor of the state,” he said.