Governor Ademola Adeleke of the Accord Party has won the 2026 Osun governorship election after securing 511,067 votes to defeat his closest challenger, Bola Oyebamiji of the All Progressives Congress (APC), who polled 444,815 votes.
Recall that the President of the Senate, Godswill Akpabio, and most governors, senators and chieftains of the APC converged on Osogbo, the state capital, to support their candidate against Adeleke.
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) declared Adeleke the winner in the early hours of Sunday, following the collation of results from the 30 local government areas in the state.
The election was held on Saturday, August 15, with the Accord candidate emerging victorious by a margin of 66,252 votes.
The Returning Officer for the election, Prof. Joshua Ogunwole, announced the result at the state collation centre and said Adeleke had satisfied the requirements of the law.
“I, Professor Joshua Ogunwole, hereby certify that I am the returning officer for the 2026 Osun governorship election held on Aug. 15, and declare that Ademola Jackson Adeleke of the Accord Party, having satisfied the requirements of the law, is hereby declared the winner,” Ogunwole said.
Adeleke’s winning figures
According to the official results announced by INEC, 1,005,800 votes were cast in the election.
Of the total votes cast, 985,079 were declared valid, while 20,721 votes were rejected.
Adeleke’s 511,067 votes represented the highest share of the valid votes, giving him a clear lead over the APC candidate.
Oyebamiji polled 444,815 votes, while Najeem Salaam of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) came a distant third with 17,180 votes.
The result showed a closely contested election between Adeleke and Oyebamiji, with the governor prevailing after securing a lead of more than 66,000 votes.
Victory across 19 LGAs
Adeleke’s victory was also reflected in his performance across the local government areas.
The governor won in 19 of the state’s 30 local government areas, while Oyebamiji prevailed in 11.
Although the APC candidate secured victories in several local government areas, Adeleke’s wider spread across the state and stronger overall vote total enabled him to retain the governorship.
His performance translated into a winning percentage of approximately 51.9 per cent of the valid votes, compared with about 45.2 per cent recorded by Oyebamiji. Salaam received roughly 1.7 per cent.
INEC declares Adeleke winner
Declaring the result, Ogunwole said the Accord Party recorded the highest number of votes out of the valid ballots cast during the election.
The declaration formally confirmed Adeleke’s re-election and secured him another four-year term in office.
The governor is expected to be sworn in on November 27, 2026.
Adeleke’s re-election means he will continue to lead Osun State for another term, following an election in which the contest was largely dominated by the Accord Party and the APC.
What the result means
The outcome gives Adeleke a renewed mandate to continue his administration’s policies and programmes across the state.
It also represents a setback for the APC, whose candidate finished second despite mounting a strong challenge and winning in 11 local government areas.
For the ADC, the result places Salaam far behind the two leading candidates, highlighting the concentration of electoral support around the Accord and APC during the poll.
With INEC’s declaration, attention will now shift to the transition process and the governor’s swearing-in ceremony scheduled for November 27.
