Osun State Governor Ademola Adeleke has won the state’s governorship election, securing 511,067 votes to defeat his closest challenger, All Progressives Congress candidate Bola Oyebamiji.
The State Returning Officer, Professor Joshua Ogunwole, declared Adeleke the winner at about 7:24 a.m. on Sunday at the conclusion of the collation of results from the 30 local government areas.
Adeleke, who contested on the platform of the Accord, won in 19 local government areas, while Oyebamiji secured 11.
The result returns Adeleke to office for another term after a closely contested election that saw the two leading candidates divide the state’s local government areas between them.
Adeleke won in Ede North, Ede South, Ejigbo, Iwo, Egbedore, Ife North, Ife East, Ife Central, Oriade, Ifelodun, Orolu, Ayedaade, Ayedire, Odo Otin, Boluwaduro, Ilesa West, Ifedayo and Osogbo.
Oyebamiji won in Irewole, Isokan, Olorunda, Atakumosa East, Atakumosa West, Ilesa East, Boripe, Irepodun and Obokun.
The returning officer said 1,010,684 voters were accredited, while 1,005,800 votes were cast. Of these, 985,079 were valid and 20,721 were rejected.
Adeleke polled 511,067 votes against Oyebamiji’s 444,815, giving the governor a margin of 66,252 votes.
The African Democratic Congress candidate, Najeem Salaam, finished third with 17,180 votes.
Declaring the result, Ogunwole said Adeleke had satisfied the requirements of the law and was therefore declared the winner and returned elected.
The declaration followed the signing of the collated results by agents of the participating political parties.
Adeleke’s victory comes after a tightly fought contest in which the governor retained several of his strongholds, while Oyebamiji made significant gains across parts of the state.
The result also marks the end of the election process at the collation stage, although candidates and political parties retain their legal rights to challenge the outcome where they have grounds to do so.
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