Osun 2026: Who Buries Its Loyalists When the Banners Fall? — By Abioye Tosin Lawrence

Curbing Burial of Relevance Ahead of the Poll

In Osun politics, loyalty can cost you more than dignity, it can cost you blood.

As the 2026 elections approach and tensions sharpen over the unresolved local government crisis, it’s becoming clear that we may be tiptoeing toward an avoidable standoff. The signs are there, if only we are willing to read them.

The banners haven't gone up yet, 

Party loyalists are being profiled.  And if care is not taken, we may soon find ourselves counting casualties instead of votes.

It wouldn’t be the first time.

Electioneering in Nigeria, particularly at the state level, is no stranger to violence. But must that always be our script? Must Osun again be drawn into the theater of bloodshed and betrayal, where the price of allegiance is not a handshake, but a funeral?

The crisis rocking local governance today is no longer administrative, it is existential.

The inability (or refusal) to resolve legal ambiguities has created political hostilities, a tension point that opportunists and thugs know how to exploit. If security is not stepped up, far beyond what we saw in previous elections, we risk letting this simmer into tragedy.

There should be no conflict if the law is clear, fair, and obeyed.

But what happens when the law bends to the will of power?

When thuggery is rewarded, and justice is postponed indefinitely?

In such a system, loyalists become cannon fodder. They defend their parties with sweat and skin, only to be buried under cold slabs when the gunmen come. And long after the winners are sworn in, their names are reduced to Facebook posts and condolence statements.

It’s a dangerous equation:

Loyalty + Chaos – Law = Martyrdom.

And make no mistake: if political actors do not step back and allow the rule of law to reign, if security agencies continue their traditional ritual of delayed response and selective intervention, Osun 2026 may mark a dark chapter in the state’s history.

We must not wait for the blood to spill before we cry foul.

We must not turn elections into civil wars by other means.

The duty of a democracy is not just to install power, but to protect people.

Every loyalist, every supporter, every citizen deserves to go to the polls and return home alive.

If democracy can’t guarantee that, then maybe we need to stop calling it democracy.