The Accord Party candidate and incumbent Governor of Osun State, Ademola Adeleke, has taken an early lead in the ongoing governorship election following the collation of results from 15 of the state’s 30 Local Government Areas.
Based on the results announced so far, Adeleke has secured 283,235 votes, placing him ahead of his closest challenger, the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate, Bola Oyebamiji, who has polled 216,003 votes.
The African Democratic Congress (ADC) candidate, Najeem Salaam, is currently in third position with 11,196 votes.
The figures give Adeleke a lead of 67,232 votes over Oyebamiji, while results from the remaining 15 LGAs are still being awaited.
The LGAs whose results have so far been collated are Aiyedire, Atakunmosa East, Ede North, Ede South, Egbedore, Ejigbo, Ife Central, Ife South, Irepodun, Isokan, Iwo, Obokun, Ola-Oluwa, Oriade and Osogbo.
Adeleke recorded notable victories in several of the LGAs already declared. In Ede North, his home base, he secured 35,427 votes against Oyebamiji’s 10,283 votes.
He also won Ede South with 21,188 votes, Iwo with 27,085 votes and Osogbo with 36,480 votes.
Oyebamiji, however, secured victories in some of the LGAs already declared, including Obokun, where he defeated Adeleke by 4,097 votes.
The results remain provisional as collation continues across the state. The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) is expected to announce the final statewide result after the results from all 30 LGAs have been presented and verified.
The final collation of the results commenced at about 2:35 a.m. in Osogbo.