Governor Ademola Nurudeen Jackson Adeleke has been re-elected for a second term, after the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, declared him winner of Saturday’s Osun State governorship election.
Announcing the results at the INEC headquarters in Osogbo on Sunday, the Returning Officer, Prof. Joshua Olalekan Ogunwale, said Adeleke of the Accord Party polled 511,067 votes to defeat Asiwaju Bola Oyebamiji of the All Progressives Congress, APC, who scored 444,815 votes.
The candidate of the African Democratic Party, *Dr. Najeem Salaam*, came third with 17,180 votes.
According to Prof. Ogunwale, the election had *2,339,544 registered voters*. Of that number, 1,010,684 voters* were accredited.
A total of 1,005,800 ballots were cast. *985,097 votes were valid, while 20,721 votes were rejected.
The Returning Officer said Adeleke met the constitutional requirement of scoring the highest number of votes and obtaining at least one-quarter of votes in two-thirds of the state’s 30 local government areas.
“I, Prof. Joshua Olalekan Ogunwale, hereby declare the candidate of the Accord Party, Ademola Jackson Adeleke, the winner of the election, having satisfied the requirements,” he said.
Celebration in Osogbo
News of Adeleke’s victory triggered wild jubilation in Osogbo as supporters poured onto the streets singing and dancing.
Taiwo Oloyede, a resident, commended INEC for the conduct of the poll. He also praised President *Bola Ahmed Tinubu* for what he described as allowing the electoral umpire to work independently, and for intervening when the state government’s account was frozen.
Also speaking, civil servant Odunola Omojola said Adeleke deserved another term because of his focus on workers’ welfare.
According to him, the support of the Osun workforce was key to the governor’s victory.
Adeleke’s win keeps the Accord Party in control of Osun for another four years.
