As collation of results from Saturday’s Osun State governorship election got underway, members of Governor Ademola Adeleke’s family expressed optimism over his re-election chances, with early figures showing the incumbent ahead of his closest challenger.
Checks on the Nigeria Elections Intelligence System showed that results from 303 of the state’s 332 wards had been collated, with Governor Adeleke polling 177,572 votes, representing 50.5 per cent of the votes counted. His closest challenger, APC candidate Bola Oyebamiji, had 158,588 votes, representing 45.1 per cent, while ADC candidate Najeem Salaam was in third position with 5,917 votes.
Of the 845,100 registered voters in the areas covered, 361,500 had been accredited, representing a voter turnout of 42.8 per cent. A total of 351,500 valid votes had been recorded, while 7,200 ballots were rejected. The Independent National Electoral Commission said 43.41 per cent of polling units had reported results as the collation process entered its concluding stages.
Adeleke, who is seeking re-election, defected from the Peoples Democratic Party to the Accord Party ahead of the election, with Kola Adenusi as his running mate. Oyebamiji, a former Managing Director of the National Inland Waterways Authority, has Benjamin Adereti as his deputy.
Adeleke secured 421 votes at his own polling unit, Ward 02, Polling Unit 009, Abogunde Compound, in Ede North Local Government Area, a result that triggered celebrations among his supporters as sorting and collation progressed. His wide margin at his polling unit heightened excitement among supporters, who erupted in celebration chanting “Imole”— the governor’s campaign slogan.
The governor’s family has been vocal throughout the campaign. His nephew, Afrobeats star Davido, declared his uncle “cruising to victory” as counting got underway, claiming on social media that the APC had lost the ward of former Osun governor Bisi Akande and urging residents to “stay vigilant all night.”
Governor Adeleke’s son, B-Red (Adebayo Adeleke), a musician who has previously spoken publicly about his pride in his father’s political career, has also been a visible presence around the family’s campaign activities.
The governor himself raised concerns as collation proceeded, urging President Bola Tinubu in a post on X to direct security agencies to protect the integrity of the process, citing “deeply concerning and unacceptable” reports of alleged attempts to disrupt or hijack collation centres. Earlier, after casting his ballot, Adeleke had alleged that INEC planned to bypass ward and local government collation procedures by moving results directly to the state collation centre.
Separately, Adeleke condemned the arrest of Osun PDP Chairman Sunday Bisi, who he said was taken from his residence in Ilesa to an undisclosed location shortly after voting, describing it as an attempt to intimidate his supporters.
With collation still ongoing across the state’s 30 local government areas, the final result is expected to be formally declared by INEC’s Returning Officer at the state collation centre once all outstanding results have been received and collated.
