By Chiemeka Ugwowo
Adeleke Secures Second Term Mandate as Osun Governor
OSOGBO — Governor Ademola Adeleke has won re-election as the Governor of Osun State, securing a second term mandate after defeating 14 other candidates in the governorship election held on Saturday, August 15.
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) declared Adeleke winner of the keenly contested poll after he polled 511,067 votes to emerge ahead of his closest rival, Bola Oyebamiji of the All Progressives Congress (APC), who scored 444,815 votes.
The African Democratic Congress (ADC) candidate, Najeem Salam, came third with 17,180 votes.
Voting commenced across the state at about 8:30am and officially ended by 2:30pm, although voting extended in some polling units due to delays experienced during the exercise.
INEC began the collation and uploading of results shortly after voting ended, with figures from polling units across the state gradually transmitted to the commission’s platform.
Following the declaration of Adeleke as winner, celebrations broke out across Osun State, with thousands of supporters taking to the streets of Osogbo, the state capital, and Ede, the governor’s hometown, to celebrate the victory.
The atmosphere was filled with singing, dancing and jubilation as supporters praised the outcome of the election.
At the INEC collation centre in Osogbo, the Returning Officer, Joshua Ogunwole, announced results from the 30 local government areas of the state before declaring Adeleke winner.
The victory places Adeleke among the few governors in Osun State history to secure a second term, in a state where governorship elections have often been characterised by intense competition and prolonged legal battles.
Since the creation of Osun State in 1991, several governorship elections have ended at election tribunals or courts, with the 2007 election remaining one of the most significant examples.
In that election, INEC declared Olagunsoye Oyinlola of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) winner, but after years of legal challenges, the Court of Appeal nullified the result and declared Rauf Aregbesola of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) winner, leading to an immediate change of government.
Aregbesola’s tenure was calculated from the day he assumed office despite Oyinlola’s three-year administration, a development that later affected the timing of governorship elections in the state.
With his victory, Governor Ademola Adeleke will continue in office for another four years, leading Osun State from 2026 to 2030.
