The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has declared Osun State Governor Ademola Adeleke winner of the state’s governorship election, concluding a collation that followed voting and counting across the state on Saturday. The declaration came after INEC’s state returning officer, Prof Joshua Ogunwole—the Vice-Chancellor of the Federal University, Oye Ekiti—announced Adeleke as the winner at the commission’s collation centre in Osogbo, around 7:24am on Sunday. News Source
According to the result announced by Ogunwole, Adeleke secured victory in 19 of the 30 local government areas. INEC’s announcement followed the submission and signing of election results by agents of political parties, after which the returning officer declared Adeleke as having met the requirements of the law to be returned elected. The declaration formally positioned Adeleke to retain governance of Osun State after the August 15 governorship election. News Source
Adeleke polled 511,067 votes to emerge victorious. His closest challenger, Bola Oyebamiji of the All Progressives Congress (APC), finished second with 444,815 votes, while Najeem Salaam, the candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), came third with 17,180 votes. Across local government areas, Oyebamiji won in 11 LGAs, while Adeleke took the remaining majority, underscoring a contest that was decided by wide spread gains across multiple districts. TheCable
The INEC returning officer also provided vote accounting figures as part of the declaration process. With 1,010,684 accredited voters recorded, total votes received by political parties totalled 985,079 valid votes, according to the figures read out at collation. The results breakdown showed prominent tallies for major parties, including 511,067 votes for the Accord (Adeleke’s party), 444,815 for the APC, 17,180 for the ADC, and smaller totals for several other parties that registered on the ballot. News Source
Rejection of some ballots was also reported in the official accounting. Ogunwole stated that rejected votes numbered 207. With the total vote cast recorded at 1,005,800, the commission’s figures indicated that the election was conducted and documented through the standard verification and collation procedures. The vote accounting included entries for parties beyond the top contenders, reflecting a multi-party contest in which several parties recorded votes even as Adeleke and his major rivals dominated the overall numbers. News Source
Earlier in the day, INEC’s progress in processing results was visible through the Result Viewing Portal, IReV, which is used to display polling-unit level outcomes as they are submitted. TheCable reported that INEC had uploaded 98.35 percent of polling unit results from the election to IReV, with results submitted from 3,701 of 3,763 polling units as of 8:30am on Sunday. These uploads followed voting and counting at various polling units, indicating that much of the numerical record was already publicly tracked while INEC continued collation. TheCable
The collation itself took place at the INEC centre in Osogbo after INEC computed state-wide figures from submitted results. The declaration was therefore rooted in a process of collecting, verifying, and entering polling-unit outcomes before producing a final state result. While the commission’s final pronouncement was awaited for official finality, the uploading pace and the emerging tallies had offered a clear picture of how the contest was unfolding—particularly the substantial lead credited to Adeleke’s vote total compared to the APC’s second-place position. TheCable
Beyond the numbers, the lead-up to the election and the mechanics of accreditation were also matters of public attention. Daily Post Nigeria reported clarifications from INEC’s Osun public relations officer, Musa Olurode, on the use of BVAS for accreditation and the acceptable methods for voter authentication. He stated that accreditation could be done either through fingerprints or pictures, explaining that even if a voter failed to register in one method, the alternative could still be acceptable. The report also noted that INEC had stated that 2,339,233 residents were registered to vote in the governorship election. Daily Post Nigeria
As the outcome became clear through the official declaration, attention turned to the broader political implications in Osun. The election determined whether Adeleke would continue to lead Osun State Government House or whether Oyebamiji would succeed him. Adeleke was seeking a second term and had previously won the 2022 Osun governorship election on the Peoples Democratic Party platform, before contesting again in the latest election on the Accord Party ticket after defecting from the PDP ahead of the poll. Sahara Reporters
With INEC’s final collation complete and Adeleke returned elected, the August 15 governorship election’s official result has now been settled. The commission’s announcement—based on Adeleke’s majority across local government areas and his total vote tally—ends the election’s state-wide collation process, while reinforcing the official roles of signed results, verified entries, and the returning officer’s declaration in concluding the electoral cycle in Osun.
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