Governor Ademola Adeleke of the Accord Party has been declared winner of the 2026 Osun State governorship election.
He defeated his closest challenger, the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate, Bola Oyebamiji to secure a second four-year term.
Adeleke polled 511,067 votes, while Oyebamiji garnered 444,815 votes, giving the incumbent a winning margin of 66,252 votes.
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) Returning Officer for the election, Prof. Joshua Ogunwole, declared Adeleke winner in the early hours of Sunday after the collation of results from across the state.
The governor’s victory came after he secured the highest number of votes in 19 of the state’s 30 local government areas, according to reports on the final results.
INEC records showed that a total of 1,005,800 votes were cast, comprising 985,079 valid votes and 20,721 rejected votes. The election featured candidates from several political parties, with the African Democratic Congress (ADC) candidate, Najeem Salaam, emerging in third place with 17,180 votes.
Other candidates recorded comparatively lower figures, including the ADC’s Najeem Salaam, while the remaining contestants shared the balance of the votes.
Adeleke expressed appreciation to the people of Osun State for reposing confidence in his administration and giving him the mandate to continue in office.
The governor also acknowledged President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for calling to congratulate him on his electoral victory.
Adeleke, in a conciliatory message after the keenly contested poll, said he was prepared to work with the other candidates who participated in the election, stressing that the outcome should not create division among the people of the state.
He described the election as a collective exercise and maintained that there should be no winner or vanquished in the aftermath of the contest.
The governor also said he expected his closest rival, Oyebamiji of the APC, to congratulate him on his victory.
Looking ahead to his second term, Adeleke said his administration would shift its attention to a new phase of economic development aimed at transforming Osun from what he described as a predominantly civil-service-dependent state into an industrialised state.
He said the next phase of his administration would focus on strengthening the state’s productive capacity, creating economic opportunities and accelerating development.
The governor attributed his victory to God and thanked the people of Osun for their support throughout the electoral process.
The 2026 governorship election followed months of political campaigns, rallies and mobilisation by political parties and their candidates.
The contest between Adeleke and Oyebamiji was particularly closely watched, with both major camps seeking to consolidate their support across the state’s three senatorial districts.
The final outcome nevertheless gave Adeleke a decisive lead of more than 66,000 votes.
The declaration brings to a close the voting and collation process that began after polling units opened across the state on Saturday, August 15.
INEC had deployed electoral technology and personnel across the state for the election, while results were progressively uploaded to the commission’s Result Viewing (IReV) portal during the collation process. Reports indicated that thousands of polling-unit results were uploaded before the final declaration.
