Osun Poll: Fayose Says Federal Might Could Have Swayed Result If Deployed
Former Ekiti State Governor, Ayo Fayose, has declared that if the Federal Government genuinely intended to manipulate an election outcome by force, there would be little anyone could do to stop it. Fayose made this assertion while reflecting on the August 15, 2026 Osun State governorship election, during an interview with TVC News, in which incumbent Governor Ademola Adeleke secured re-election under the Accord Party banner. The former governor, who said he remained in Osogbo throughout the election period, explained that he visited markets and communities across the state, including Ilesa, to gauge the mood of voters ahead of the poll, and his interactions with residents suggested the election would be closely contested, with the result capable of going either way.
When asked if he knew Adeleke would win, Fayose said the closeness of the contest meant either candidate could have emerged victorious, stating, “When you have an election that is 52, 48, it could go either way,” contrasting that with an election where one candidate holds a much wider lead of 30 to 70. He expressed concern about the violence and killings recorded around the election, describing them as unnecessary and deeply regrettable, noting that the Nigeria Police Force retained approximately 15,000 personnel deployed for the election and deployed anti-riot policemen and undercover operatives to strategic locations to prevent post-election violence, following at least 34 election-related violent incidents that resulted in 18 deaths recorded since May 2026.
On vote buying, Fayose stated that neither the APC nor the Accord Party could claim innocence, saying the two sides clearly engaged in the practice, and according to reports, vote trading topped the list of electoral offences with 103 cases recorded by observers, with police arresting individuals from both sides sharing money. Official results declared by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) showed that Governor Ademola Adeleke polled 511,067 votes (51.90 per cent) to defeat APC candidate Bola Oyebamiji, who secured 444,815 votes (45.17 per cent), with the margin of victory increasing from 28,344 votes in 2022 to 66,252 votes in 2026, and the wider margin, combined with intense competition, made manipulation more difficult, according to the Athena Election Observatory.
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Fayose broke down the winning margin, arguing that a significant portion of the difference came from Ede, the home base of the Adeleke family, where in Ede North, Adeleke polled 35,427 votes against Oyebamiji’s 10,283, while in Ede South, he secured 26,188 votes compared with the APC candidate’s 6,219, and Adeleke also won in 19 of the state’s 30 local government areas. He addressed claims that the Federal Government wanted to take over the election, saying, “I want to say to you, if the federal government wants to take an election, they will take it. If the federal government… the ones I know of the past, if they want to take an election, there’s nothing you can do,” a statement that echoed comments by Nyesom Wike, Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, who said President Bola Tinubu could have secured victory for the APC in Osun if he wanted it “at all costs,” insisting that the result showed that no federal might was deployed in Osun and that the President allowed a free and fair process, with Fayose agreeing with Wike’s position, responding, “That, that exactly…”
Fayose congratulated Adeleke on his victory and urged him to reconcile with all stakeholders in the state, saying, “So let us commend the Adelekes for winning and remind them they need to be magnanimous in victory. The language now must be right. Reconciliation must be total. Not with the Accord alone, but with all other stakeholders because all of you are from Osun state.” His comments come as political stakeholders continue to analyse the outcome of the closely watched governorship election, which has significant implications for the political landscape in the South-West region and the build-up to the 2027 general elections.