Defeated Osun State governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress, Bola Oyebamiji, has broken his silence on the outcome of Saturday's election, saying he respects the position of the electoral umpire and supports his party's ongoing review of the result, while raising alarm over what he described as a growing wave of violence against his supporters.

In a statement he personally signed and made available to journalists in Osogbo on Monday night, Oyebamiji thanked his supporters, party members and volunteers for their steadfastness, commitment and sacrifice throughout the campaign, describing his belief in the prosperity agenda he presented to Osun residents as an experience he would forever cherish.

He acknowledged that the outcome fell short of what his camp had hoped for, but said he respected INEC's position and fully backed the APC's decision to continue reviewing the result.

Oyebamiji said the end of the campaign did not mean the end of the values and causes his bid represented, pledging to keep working for effective, inclusive and rapid development in Osun.

He urged supporters who stood by his campaign to remain engaged, keep organising and stay vigilant for what he called the collective good of the state, while calling for calm and peaceful conduct in the post-election period.

The most pointed part of the statement was directed at security agencies. Oyebamiji alerted the state government and security agents to what he described as a growing trend of hostility and violence against APC members and supporters, saying attacks that had trailed the party through the campaign had taken a new turn in the preceding 24 hours. He urged the Nigeria Police Force and other security agencies to intervene without delay to halt what he called an ugly trend.

His statement came against the backdrop of reports of coordinated attacks on APC figures across parts of Osun following Adeleke's declaration, including at the office and private residence of a senior party media official in Ilesa, alongside broader complaints from the party's leadership about the molestation of its members.

The APC's Director of Media and Information, Kola Olabisi, had separately said the party was studying results from the state's 332 wards to determine whether there were grounds for further legal action, insisting that considering such options did not amount to rejecting the outcome of the election but formed part of the constitutional process for addressing electoral grievances.

Oyebamiji closed his statement by thanking every voter, supporter, party member and leader once again for their commitment throughout the campaign, expressing pride in the race he ran despite the result.

INEC had declared Adeleke winner in the early hours of Sunday with 511,067 votes, against 444,815 for Oyebamiji, a margin of more than 66,000 votes. Adeleke's campaign, the Imole Campaign Council, has separately begun its own documentation of election-related violence victims across the state's 30 local government areas, an exercise it said would not be limited to Accord Party supporters.