Osun Decides: Adeleke Sweeps 19 LGAs, Oyebamiji Takes 11 as Incumbent Heads for Second Term

Osun Decides: Adeleke Sweeps 19 LGAs, Oyebamiji Takes 11 as Incumbent Heads for Second Term

Incumbent governor secures commanding lead across 30 local government areas, awaits INEC’s official declaration

Governor Ademola Adeleke of the Accord Party has won 19 of the 30 Local Government Areas in Saturday’s Osun governorship election, while his closest challenger, Bola Oyebamiji of the All Progressives Congress (APC), secured 11 LGAs, according to results announced during the ongoing collation process. The outcome across the 30 councils gives Adeleke a clear advantage in the race as the Independent National Electoral Commission continues the collation and official declaration of results at the state collation centre in Osogbo. The Osun governorship election saw 15 political parties fielding candidates, with Governor Adeleke seeking a second term in office.

Across the 30 LGAs, Adeleke polled a combined 511,067 votes against Oyebamiji’s 444,815, giving the incumbent a margin of 66,252 votes based on the figures provided. Earlier provisional figures from INEC’s Result Viewing Portal had shown Adeleke leading with 451,744 votes (52.54%) against Oyebamiji’s 382,689 votes (44.51%) when about 87% of results were uploaded. Adeleke recorded his largest LGA vote total in Osogbo, where he polled 36,480 votes against Oyebamiji’s 30,474. He also secured 35,427 votes in Ede North and 27,201 in Ife East. Oyebamiji’s strongest performance came in Irewole, where he scored 29,972 votes against Adeleke’s 10,934. He also won Olorunda with 24,671 votes to Adeleke’s 23,514 and Ilesa East with 16,208 votes against Adeleke’s 12,280.

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The 19 LGAs won by Adeleke include Ede South and Ede North, which is Adeleke’s home base where he secured 35,427 votes against APC’s 10,283; Osogbo with 36,480 votes; Ife East with 27,201 votes; Ife Central with 21,171 votes, winning by a 5,258-vote margin; Iwo with 27,085 votes against APC’s 19,660; and Ife North, Ilesa West, Egbedore, Ayedaade, Ayedire, Ejigbo, Ifedayo, Ifelodun, Ila, Odo-Otin, Oriade, and Orolu. The 11 LGAs secured by Oyebamiji include Ilesa East with 16,208 votes; Boripe with 19,963 votes; Irepodun with 15,713 votes; Obokun with 16,120 votes; Atakumosa West and East; Irewole with 29,972 votes; Isokan with 14,063 votes; Olaoluwa with 10,782 votes; Ife South with 14,678 votes; and Olorunda with 24,671 votes.

Closely fought contests were recorded in several LGAs. In Boluwaduro, Adeleke led with 7,118 votes against 7,050 for Oyebamiji. In Isokan, Oyebamiji edged Adeleke 14,063 to 13,765 votes. In Ejigbo, Adeleke polled 18,458 votes against Oyebamiji’s 16,195, while the ADC candidate recorded 5,053 votes.

The election was not without incidents. Several LGAs reported over-voting and violence, leading to cancellation of results in some polling units. In Orolu LGA, votes were cancelled in Ward 04 due to over-voting, while Ward 03 Olufon also recorded cancelled votes for the same reason. Ward 05 in Orolu experienced ballot box snatching, with party agents insisting on cancellation because it took over an hour before the ballot box was returned. In Atakumosa West LGA, an inter-party conflict occurred at Okebode PU 001 Oju Oja, where voters carried away the ballot box and damaged it before returning it, leading to cancellation of the election at that unit. Atakumosa East LGA also reported cancellations in two polling units due to violence. In Ejigbo LGA, three separate violence incidents affected 2,340 voters. In Ife Central LGA, two polling units had results cancelled due to over-voting.

The election drew significant public attention, with prominent figures monitoring the process. Afrobeats star Davido, nephew of Governor Adeleke, had earlier questioned INEC’s IReV upload delays, writing: “INEC IREV uploads have been stuck for almost 2 hours now. 3292 out of 3763 results submitted and then silence. This is not acceptable!” Election observer group Yiaga Africa raised concerns over the delay in uploading results to INEC’s IReV portal, noting that uploads remained unchanged from 8:48 p.m. to 10:00 p.m., leaving 471 results outstanding nearly eight hours after voting ended. As of 2 a.m. Sunday, INEC had uploaded 3,614 results, representing 96% of the total. Businessman Atedo Peterside also demanded that INEC explain why it took longer to upload the final 13 per cent of results than the first 87 per cent.

The collation of results is continuing, with Adeleke awaiting the official declaration by INEC. The final outcome will be determined by the results formally accepted and declared by the electoral commission. The Osun State governorship election has 2,399,233 registered voters, with 1,906,390 collecting their Permanent Voter Cards and eligible to vote across 3,763 polling units in the 332 wards and 30 LGAs. The election is considered a crucial test for INEC and security agencies ahead of the 2027 general elections. The National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS), Southwest Zone D, has appealed to President Bola Tinubu to reinforce directives to security agencies and INEC to ensure the will of Osun voters is not subverted during collation. Peterside had earlier described the Osun election as a “referendum on INEC, the security agencies and the police,” stating that their performance would be judged by Nigerians.

Osun Decides: Adeleke Sweeps 19 LGAs, Oyebamiji Takes 11 as Incumbent Heads for Second Term