Osun State Governor Ademola Adeleke has secured a second term after defeating his closest challenger, Bola Oyebamiji of the All Progressives Congress (APC), in the state’s August 15 governorship election.
Adeleke, who contested under the Accord Party, polled 511,067 votes to emerge as the winner.
Oyebamiji received 444,815 votes, while Najeem Salaam of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) finished third with 17,180 votes.
The result gave Adeleke a winning margin of 66,252 votes.
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) declared Adeleke the winner early Sunday morning at the state collation centre in Osogbo after officials collated results from all 30 local government areas.
The Accord Party candidate won 19 local government areas, including Osogbo, Ede North, Ede South, Ife Central, Ife East, Ife North, Ilesa West, Iwo, Ila, Ifelodun, Odo-Otin, Orolu, Oriade, Boluwaduro, Ifedayo, Aiyedire, Egbedore, Ayedaade and Ejigbo.
Oyebamiji won the remaining 11 local government areas, including Ilesa East, Boripe, Irepodun, Obokun, Atakunmosa West, Irewole, Atakunmosa East, Isokan, Ola Oluwa, Ife South and Olorunda.
The election took place amid heightened security and close public scrutiny. Security agencies imposed movement restrictions across the state, while reports of alleged vote-buying and delays in uploading some results to INEC’s IReV portal attracted attention during the collation process.
Citizens and political stakeholders closely monitored the process as officials uploaded and collated the results.
Afrobeats star Davido, Adeleke’s nephew and a prominent supporter of his campaign, also followed the election closely. After INEC declared the result, Davido celebrated on social media with messages including, “We did it, Uncle.”
Adeleke first won the Osun governorship in 2022. His latest victory gives him another four-year term and extends his administration, while the APC suffers another defeat in a closely contested Osun governorship race.
