Politics
INEC declares Adeleke winner of Osun governorship election
OSUN State Governor and Accord Party candidate, Ademola Adeleke, has won the 2026 governorship election, according to the results announced by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
The Returning Officer for the election, Joshua Olalekan Ogunwale, a professor and Vice-Chancellor of the Federal University Oye-Ekiti, declared Adeleke the winner after the collation of results from the state’s 30 local government areas.
Results collated by INEC show that Adeleke secured 511,067 votes across the 30 LGAs, ahead of his closest challenger, All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate Bola Oyebamiji, who polled 444,815 votes.
African Democratic Congress (ADC) candidate Najeem Salam recorded 17,180 votes in the results collated.
Adeleke won in 19 of the 30 LGAs, while Oyebamiji won in 11.
The governor recorded some of his biggest victories in his strongholds, including Ede North, where he polled 35,427 votes against Oyebamiji’s 10,283, and Ede South, where he secured 26,188 votes against the APC candidate’s 6,219.
He also won Osogbo with 36,480 votes, compared with Oyebamiji’s 30,474, while in Ife East, Adeleke secured 27,201 votes against 18,600 for the APC.
Oyebamiji, however, won several LGAs, including Irewole, where he scored 29,972 votes against Adeleke’s 10,934, as well as Boripe, Ilesha East, Obokun, Atakunmosa West, Atakunmosa East, Iwo, Aiyedire, Olaoluwa, Ife South and Olorunda.
The election was conducted amid concerns over possible violence and reported technical difficulties with the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) in some polling units.
The ICIR reported earlier that accreditation was delayed at Adeleke’s polling unit, Abogunde Polling Unit 009, Abogunde/Sagba, Ward 2, Ede North, after the BVAS experienced technical difficulties.
At the polling unit, where 1,082 voters were registered and 457 were accredited, Adeleke polled 421 votes, while Oyebamiji scored 29.
Similar BVAS glitches were reported at several polling units across Ede North and Ede South, forcing some voters to wait while electoral officials worked to resolve the problems.
Despite the delays, voting continued and the election was subsequently concluded, with INEC proceeding with the collation of results across the state.
Adeleke’s victory gives him a second term in office after he defeated the then-incumbent APC governor, Gboyega Oyetola, in the 2022 governorship election.
In that election, Adeleke polled 403,371 votes, defeating Oyetola, who scored 375,027 votes, according to INEC.
