By Amofokhai Williams
Governor Ademola Adeleke of the Accord Party has secured a fresh four-year term in Osun State, after the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) officially declared him winner of the hotly contested governorship election in the early hours of Sunday.
The announcement was made by the State Returning Officer, Professor Joshua Olalekan Ogunwole, Vice-Chancellor of the Federal University Oye-Ekiti, at the state collation centre in Osogbo, confirming that Adeleke polled the highest number of valid votes and satisfied all required electoral conditions.
Final results from all 30 local government areas show Adeleke polled a total of 511,067 votes. His closest challenger, Bola Oyebamiji of the All Progressives Congress, scored 444,815 votes, leaving a winning margin of 66,253 votes. Najeem Salaam, candidate for the African Democratic Congress, placed third overall with 17,180 votes.
Adeleke carried 19 local government areas while Oyebamiji won 11. Though the APC candidate recorded strong performances in his strongholds, Adeleke’s commanding leads in larger and more populous areas proved decisive, comfortably outweighing Oyebamiji’s gains elsewhere.
The governor posted his most overwhelming victory in Ede North, polling 35,427 votes compared to Oyebamiji’s 10,283, a massive margin of 25,144 votes, followed closely by Ede South, where he secured 26,188 votes against Oyebamiji’s 6,219.
He also ran up large totals in the state capital Osogbo with 36,480 votes, Ife East with 27,201, Iwo with 27,085, and Ife Central with 21,171.
Several races were remarkably close. In Boluwaduro, Adeleke edged ahead by barely 68 votes- 7,118 to 7,050, while in Ayedaade he finished 962 votes ahead, and in Ejigbo he led by 2,263 votes, where ADC candidate Najeem Salaam received his strongest support with 5,053 votes in his home local government. Adeleke also took Ife North, Ilesha West, Orolu, Oriade, Odo Otin, Ifelodun, Ila, Ifedayo, Aiyedire and Egbedore.
Oyebamiji’s most dominant performance came in Irewole, where he secured 29,972 votes to Adeleke’s 10,934, a margin of 19,038 votes, his largest of the election.
He also won comfortably in Boripe, Ilesha East, and Obokun. Several other contests went down to the wire: in Isokan, Oyebamiji won by just 298 votes, while in Irepodun, Ola Oluwa, Ife South, and Olorunda he secured victories by similarly slim margins. His full list of wins also included Atakumosa West and Atakumosa East.
The final tally confirmed Adeleke’s lead, built on broad support across the state’s key population centres that more than compensated for opposition strength in other districts. With INEC’s formal declaration, he has secured the mandate to govern Osun State for another four years.
Congratulations Imole, democracy is working