Governor Ademola Adeleke of the Accord Party has secured a second term in office after winning Saturday’s Osun State governorship election, taking 19 of the state’s 30 local government areas against 11 for his closest rival, Bola Oyebamiji of the All Progressives Congress (APC).
Following the announcement of results from all 30 local government areas at the INEC collation centre in Osogbo in the early hours of Sunday, a review of the declared results showed Adeleke polling a total of 511,067 votes, against 444,811 votes for Oyebamiji, a margin of 66,256 votes. The African Democratic Congress (ADC) candidate, Najeem Salaam, finished a distant third with 14,989 votes, while the remaining twelve candidates on the ballot trailed further behind.
Adeleke, who is awaiting the official declaration from the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), had earlier extended his lead over Oyebamiji following the announcement of results from 20 of the state’s 30 local government areas, with figures at that stage showing him with 365,922 votes to Oyebamiji’s 287,695, an advantage of 78,227 votes with ten LGAs still outstanding.
The governor recorded particularly wide margins in several of his strongholds. In Ede North, his home local government, Adeleke polled 35,427 votes against Oyebamiji’s 10,283, while in Ede South he secured 26,188 votes to Oyebamiji’s 6,219. In Osogbo, the state capital and a historically APC-leaning area, Adeleke defeated Oyebamiji 36,480 votes to 30,474 — a result seen as especially significant given the LGA’s political history.
Adeleke also posted notable victories in Ife East (27,201 votes to 18,600), Iwo (27,085 to 19,660), Egbedore (19,278 to 11,194) and Oriade (21,343 to 14,863).
Oyebamiji, for his part, won 11 local government areas, including a decisive victory in Irewole, where he polled 29,972 votes against Adeleke’s 10,934. He also prevailed in Irepodun, edging Adeleke 15,713 votes to 14,504, in Obokun, where he secured 16,120 votes against the governor’s 12,023, and in Atakumosa West, polling 10,037 votes to Adeleke’s 7,479.
As of the time of the results review, a final, certified tally was still being compiled, and INEC’s Returning Officer for the election, Prof. Joshua Ogunwole, Vice-Chancellor of the Federal University Oye-Ekiti, was expected to make the formal declaration at the state collation centre in Osogbo.
Fifteen political parties fielded candidates in Saturday’s election, though only the Accord Party and the APC made a significant impact statewide. Adeleke, who moved to the Accord Party from the Peoples Democratic Party ahead of the poll, ran alongside running mate Kola Adenusi, while Oyebamiji, a former Managing Director of the National Inland Waterways Authority, contested with Benjamin Adereti as his deputy.
The election was conducted amid heightened tension, with both major parties trading allegations of thuggery, vote-buying and attempts to disrupt the collation process in the days and hours surrounding the vote, alongside reports of gunfire in parts of Osogbo on election night. Security agencies imposed a statewide restriction on movement from midnight on Friday until 6 p.m. on Saturday as part of measures to secure the poll.
