By Eric Elezuo
Governor Ademola Adeleke of Osun State has won the state’s governorship election. The result was announced by the Returning Officer of the Osun State governorship election, Prof Joshua Olalekan Ogunwale.
The governor polled a total of 511, 067 votes to defeat his closest rival, Bola Oyebamiji of the All Progressives Congress (APC), who score 444, 815 votes. The African Democratic Congress (ADC), Salaam Najid (Iwaloye), came a distant third with 17, 180 votes
Adeleke took an early lead as results uploaded by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) showed him establishing a commanding lead over his closest challenger, and sustained the lead till the final counting
As at 2.06 a.m. on Sunday, INEC had uploaded results from 3,612 polling units, representing 95.99 per cent of the 3,763 polling units in the state, to its Result Viewing Portal (IReV).
With results from only 151 polling units yet to be uploaded, Adeleke, candidate of the Accord Party, had polled 509,057 votes, representing 51.7 per cent of the votes available on IReV.
The emerging outcome came despite a formidable APC campaign effort that drew about 10 governors and leading figures of the ruling party to Osun to canvass support for Oyebamiji.
Eecall that the Senate President Godswill Akpabio and Speaker of the House of Representatives Tajudeen Abbas were among senior APC figures who stormed Osun, and campaigned for the party’s candidate.
Governors who joined the campaign included Hope Uzodimma of Imo State, Monday Okpebholo of Edo State, Usman Ododo of Kogi State, AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq of Kwara State, Babajide Sanwo-Olu of Lagos State, Biodun Oyebanji of Ekiti State, Dapo Abiodun of Ogun State, Mai Mala Buni of Yobe State and Lucky Aiyedatiwa of Ondo State. Delta State Governor Sheriff Oborevwori was represented by his deputy, Monday Onyeme.
By this victory, Adeleke is expected to pilot the affairs of the state for the next four years, till 2031.
