Governor Ademola Adeleke of the Accord Party has maintained a commanding lead in the Osun State governorship election as the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) moves towards the final declaration of the winner.
Results already announced and uploaded to INEC’s Result Viewing Portal (IReV) show Adeleke ahead of his major challenger, the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate, Bola Oyebamiji. INEC had uploaded 3,613 of the 3,763 expected polling-unit results, representing 96.01 per cent, as of the latest update.
According to the latest provisional aggregation, Adeleke had 452,072 votes against Oyebamiji’s 373,003, giving the incumbent governor a margin of 79,069 votes. Adeleke was also reported to be leading in 23 of the 30 local government areas, while Oyebamiji led in seven.
INEC has commenced the collation and announcement of results from the 30 local government areas at the state collation centre in Osogbo. Reports indicate that the commission is expected to conclude the process and formally announce the winner once the statutory collation is completed.
Adeleke recorded particularly strong performances in areas including Ede North, Ede South and Iwo. In Ede North, he polled 35,427 votes against Oyebamiji’s 10,283, while in Ede South he secured 36,480 votes against 30,474 for the APC candidate in the officially announced figures.
However, the election was not without controversy. Election observers and monitoring organisations reported cases of alleged vote-buying, BVAS malfunctions, delays in the arrival of electoral officials and isolated incidents of violence in some parts of the state.
With the margin between the two leading candidates already substantial, attention has now shifted to the final declaration by INEC, which will formally determine who emerges as the next governor of Osun State.
Note: Adeleke is currently the clear provisional leader, but the election should not be described as finally won until INEC’s Returning Officer makes the official declaration.