The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has declared the incumbent Governor of Osun State, Ademola Adeleke of the Accord Party, winner of the 2026 governorship election held on Saturday.
Adeleke polled 511,067 votes, defeating his closest challenger, Bola Oyebamiji of the All Progressives Congress (APC), who scored 444,815 votes. Najeem Salaam of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) came third with 17,180 votes.
The INEC Returning Officer, Professor Joshua Olalekan Ogunwole, announced the final result on Sunday, August 16, after collation from all 30 Local Government Areas.
According to INEC, 2,339,544 voters were registered, 1,010,684 were accredited, and 1,005,800 votes were cast, comprising 985,079 valid votes and 20,721 rejected votes.
Adeleke won in 19 LGAs, while Oyebamiji secured 11, leaving the ADC candidate without a single LGA victory.
The election was conducted across 30 LGAs, 332 Registration Areas and 3,763 Polling Units, with 15 political parties participating. It attracted significant attention from political parties, security agencies, observers, the media and other stakeholders as the final off-cycle election before the 2027 general elections.
Ahead of the poll, INEC reported that 1,906,390 Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) had been collected, representing 81.50 per cent of registered voters, while 426,842 remained uncollected.
Osun also recorded the highest number of new registrations during the last Continuous Voter Registration exercise, with 208,357 new voters.
With the declaration, Adeleke will serve another four-year term as Governor of Osun State.
Reacting to the result, Accord Party agent Pelumi Olajengbesi thanked President Bola Tinubu for providing what he described as a level playing field, while also commending INEC for its impartiality and voters for re-electing Adeleke.
Final Result:
Accord — Ademola Adeleke: 511,067
APC — Bola Oyebamiji: 444,815
ADC — Najeem Salaam: 17,180
Registered voters: 2,339,544
Accredited voters: 1,010,684
Total votes cast: 1,005,800
Valid votes: 985,079
Rejected votes: 20,721
