…as Accord Party maintains commanding lead
By Mayowa Celestine
Osun State Governor, His Excellency, Mr. Ademola Adeleke has opened up a significant lead in the state’s governorship election, polling 18,984 votes more than his closest challenger with results from the majority of wards already collated by the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC.
According to results announced so far from 303 out of the 332 wards across the state, the incumbent governor running on the platform of the Accord Party has secured 177,572 votes, representing 50.5 percent of the total votes cast.
His main challenger, Bola Oyebamiji of the All Progressives Congress, APC, has garnered 158,588 votes, or 45.1 percent. The candidate of the African Democratic Congress, ADC, Najeem Salaam, trails in third place with 5,917 votes.
With results from 29 wards still outstanding, the margin between Adeleke and Oyebamiji currently stands at 18,984 votes. INEC officials said the collation of results from the remaining polling units is ongoing at the state collation centre in Osogbo ahead of a formal declaration of the winner.
The early lead puts Adeleke in a strong position to retain the Osun Government House for a second term. The governor, who first won the seat in 2022, has campaigned on continuity, infrastructure development, and welfare programs across the state’s 30 local government areas.
The APC, which lost the governorship to Adeleke three years ago, mounted an aggressive campaign to reclaim the state. Oyebamiji, a former Commissioner for Finance and ex-managing director of a federal agency, positioned the party as the alternative to consolidate federal alignment. Despite the push, the APC has so far been unable to close the gap in key local governments where results have already been collated.
The ADC, led by former Speaker of the Osun State House of Assembly Najeem Salaam, has pulled a smaller share of the vote but remains a factor in several wards, particularly in the Osun Central district.
Voter turnout across the 332 wards appeared steady, with security agencies maintaining a visible presence at collation centres and polling units. INEC Resident Electoral Commissioner in Osun said the commission is working to ensure that the remaining results are collated transparently and uploaded to the INEC Result Viewing Portal before final announcement.
Political observers note that crossing the 50 percent mark in the current tally gives Adeleke not just a plurality but an outright majority based on votes counted so far. However, with nearly 10 percent of wards yet to be declared, the commission stressed that no winner can be announced until all results are verified.
Party agents from both the Accord Party and APC were present at the collation centre, monitoring the process as officials sorted ballot papers and entered figures.
The Osun governorship election is being closely watched as one of the major off-cycle polls ahead of the 2027 general elections. A victory for Adeleke would further solidify the Accord Party’s hold in the Southwest, while an APC win would signal a rebound for the ruling party at the state level.
INEC is expected to conclude the collation and declare the final results later today, once officials complete verification of the remaining 29 wards.
