The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has declared Ademola Adeleke the winner of the Osun State governorship election.
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has declared Governor Ademola Adeleke of the Accord Party winner of the 2026 Osun State governorship election, securing him a second term in office.
Adeleke polled 511,067 votes, representing 50.8 per cent of the 1,005,800 total votes cast across the state’s 3,763 polling units, INEC announced.
Runner-Up and Other Candidates
His closest rival, Bola Oyebamiji of the All Progressives Congress (APC), came second with 444,815 votes, accounting for 44.2 per cent of the total votes.
Najeem Salaam of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) placed third with 17,180 votes, while the remaining 12 candidates on the ballot shared the rest among themselves. INEC recorded 20,721 rejected ballots, representing about 2.06 per cent of total votes cast.
Election Details
The governorship poll, held on Saturday, August 15, 2026, spanned Osun State’s 30 local government areas and 332 wards, with 15 candidates in contention for the seat.
INEC had disclosed ahead of the election that Osun State recorded 2,339,233 registered voters, the highest figure in the state’s governorship election history, with 81.50 per cent of voters having collected their Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs).
This victory marks the first time the Accord Party has won the Osun governorship since the party’s formation.
Adeleke, popularly known as the “Dancing Senator” and uncle of Afrobeats star Davido, first won the governorship in 2022 under the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), defeating then-incumbent Gboyega Oyetola of the APC. He later decamped to the Accord Party ahead of the 2026 poll.
His re-election bid unfolded against the backdrop of a pre-election EFCC freeze on the state government’s accounts, an issue his opponents leveraged extensively during campaigning.
Reactions from political stakeholders and the opposition are expected as the collation process winds down.
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