…Incumbent polls 511,067, APC candidate scores 444,815

…Accord wins 19 LGAs, APC takes 11

Governor Ademola Adeleke of the Accord Party has won the Osun State governorship election, defeating the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate,  Bola Oyebamiji, by 66,252 votes.

Adeleke, who contested for a second term, polled 511,067 votes, while Oyebamiji, popularly known as AMBO, scored 444,815 votes in the election held on Saturday.

The Returning Officer for the election, Professor Joshua Olalekan Ogunwole, Vice Chancellor, Federal University, Oye-Ekiti, declared Adeleke winner at the state collation centre in Osogbo at about 7:50 am on Sunday.

The collation, which began around 2:15am, followed the arrival and verification of results from the 30 local government areas of the state.

Declaring the result, Ogunwole said: “Having secured the huge number of lawful votes, the candidate of Accord, Ademola Nurudeen Jackson Adeleke, is hereby returned elected as the winner of August 15 governorship election in Osun State.”

A total of 2,339,544 voters were registered for the election, while 1,010,684 were accredited.

Adeleke won in 19 local government areas, including Ife Central, Orolu, Boluwaduro, Ede South, Ife North, Ilesa West, Ifedayo, Osogbo, Oriade, Odo Otin, Ife East, Ifelodun, Iwo, Ede North, Ila, Ayedire, Ejigbo, Egbedore and Ayedaade.

Oyebamiji, on the other hand, won 11 local government areas, including Irepodun, Boripe, Obokun, Ilesa East, Atakunmosa West, Atakunmosa East, Isokan, Olaoluwa, Ife South and Olorunda.

The African Democratic Congress (ADC) candidate, Najeem Salaam, came a distant third with 17,180 votes, failing to win any of the 30 local government areas, including Ejigbo, his hometown.

The declaration triggered wild jubilation among Adeleke’s supporters, who had gathered around the INEC collation centre and along the Gbongan-Ibadan Expressway awaiting the final announcement.

The victory means Adeleke will remain in office for another four years after a keenly contested poll that had been preceded by intense political realignments, defections and allegations by the major parties.

The election was also seen as another chapter in Adeleke’s political rivalry with the APC, having defeated the party’s candidate, Gboyega Oyetola, in the 2022 election after losing narrowly to him in 2018.

In 2018, Adeleke initially led Oyetola by 353 votes after the main ballot but lost the election following a supplementary poll ordered by INEC. Oyetola eventually won by 482 votes.

Adeleke returned four years later to defeat Oyetola in the 2022 election, polling 403,371 votes against Oyetola’s 375,027 votes.

The 2026 election, however, presented a different political configuration, with Adeleke contesting on the platform of Accord after leaving the PDP, while Oyebamiji emerged as the APC candidate.

The contest was characterised by intense mobilisation by the two major camps, political defections, allegations of intimidation and vote buying, and efforts by both parties to consolidate their support across the state’s 30 local government areas.

With Saturday’s result, Adeleke has now secured a second term and extended his political control of the state, while the APC will have to regroup after failing to reclaim the governorship four years after losing it.