It is looking like a repeat performance in Osun. Governor Ademola Adeleke has taken 19 out of 30 Local Government Areas, leaving his main challenger with 11, in what is shaping up to be a very emphatic statement from the electorate.

The numbers are in from across the state and according to cbinews.tv, Governor Ademola Adeleke of the Accord Party is on the brink of reelection.

In Saturday’s governorship election, Adeleke won 19 LGAs, while his closest rival, Bola Oyebamiji of the All Progressives Congress, clinched 11. The governor is now awaiting the official declaration from the Independent National Electoral Commission after collation was concluded on Sunday at the INEC state collation centre in Osogbo.

It was a crowded ballot. A total of 15 political parties took part, but in reality it was a two horse race. The African Democratic Congress candidate, Najeem Salaam, came a distant third with just 14,989 votes.

As at the time of filing this report, the state Returning Officer, Prof Joshua Ogunwole, Vice Chancellor of the Federal University, Oye Ekiti, was set to make the final declaration.

This was not a walkover everywhere. The APC put up a real fight in the Ijesa axis and parts of Osun West. For instance, the APC flipped Ilesa East with 16,208 votes to Accord 12,280, took Boripe with 19,963 to 12,448, and secured a massive win in Irewole with 29,972 votes to 10,934.

But Adeleke stronghold in Ede and Osogbo was simply too much to overcome. In his home base of Ede North, he polled 35,427 votes against APC 10,283. In Osogbo, the state capital and the LGA with the highest number of accredited voters at 70,840, he scored 36,480 to APC 30,474. He also swept Ife East, Ife Central and Egbedore with wide margins.

For those who follow Osun politics, this is historic on many levels.

First, the party platform. Adeleke won in 2022 on the PDP ticket after defeating incumbent Gboyega Oyetola in an election that saw over 1.1 million valid votes cast. His move to the Accord Party for this 2026 cycle is a major political realignment and makes him one of the few sitting governors in this Fourth Republic to seek reelection on a different platform from the one that brought him to power.

Second, Osun has always been a bellwether state. Created in 1991, it has oscillated between progressives and the PDP since 1999, from Chief Bisi Akande to Prince Olagunsoye Oyinlola to Rauf Aregbesola. No governor has won reelection by such a spread since 2003. Winning 19 LGAs, if confirmed by INEC, shows a broad acceptance across all three senatorial districts, not just Osun West where the Adelekes are traditionally dominant.

And third, voter turnout has remained remarkably resilient. Across the 30 LGAs declared so far, total votes cast consistently tracked close to accredited voters, suggesting BVAS worked largely smoothly and that despite fears before election of intimidation, people actually came out.

All eyes are now on Prof Ogunwole at the Osogbo collation centre for that final pronouncement.

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