BREAKING: INEC officially declares Ademola Adeleke winner of #OsunDecides2026, secures re-election with over 60,000 votes

Incumbent Governor Ademola Adeleke has been re-elected for a second term as governor of Osun state.

Adeleke, the candidate of Accord, was declared the winner of the election on Sunday morning after an overnight results collation exercise in Osogbo, the state capital.

Joshua Ogunwole, the state returning officer for the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), said Adeleke secured 511,067 votes to defeat his closest challenger in the tightly contested governorship election.

Bola Oyebamiji of the All Progressives Congress (APC) placed second with a final vote tally of 444,815 votes, while Najeem Salaam, the candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), was a distant third with 17,180 votes.

Adeleke won in 19 local government areas while Oyebamiji was victorious in 11 LGAs.

The election took place under a cloud of apprehension and tension, given the violence and attacks reported in the preceding days.

However, despite the concerns, the election recorded a decent voter turnout, with large crowds overwhelming electoral officials in some polling units.

Although reports of election-related violence were minimal on Saturday, incidents of journalist harassment and disruptions to voting were recorded.

Voting started early in most parts of the state, but glitches with the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) devices delayed the conclusion in several polling units.

The election was also marred by documented instances of vote-buying and alleged intimidation of voters in parts of the state.