The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has declared that Senator Ademola Adeleke as winner after the Peoples Democratic Party’s candidate (PDP) won in 17 Local Government Areas of the state out of 30 in the Saturday, July 16, 2022 gubernatorial election.
The All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate, Governor Gboyega Oyetola won in 13 local government areas.
The Returning Officer of INEC, Professor Oluwatoyin Ogundipe, declared Adeleke winner at the end of the collation of the election results.
In his declaration, the Returning Officer said: “…Adeleke Ademola Jackson Nurudeen of PDP, having satisfied the requirements of the law, is hereby declared the winner and he is returned elected.”
Mr Adeleke, a former senator and younger brother to the state first governor, late Isiaka Adeleke, defeated the incumbent governor and candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Gboyega Oyetola, by a margin of about 28,344 votes.
Final results announced by the electoral commission, INEC, showed that the PDP polled about 403,371 votes while the APC polled about 375,027 votes.
INEC is currently collating the final figures before an official announcement is made.
The two politicians met again in a repeat of the 2018 contest between them, reigniting old rivalry.
Saturday’s election featured 15 contestants, with the rematch of the APC and PDP candidates drawing the most attention.
Kehinde Atanda of the Action Democratic Party (ADP) came in at a distant third with 10,104 votes, followed by Lasun Yusuf of the Labour Party with 2,729 votes.
In the 2018 election, Oyetola trailed Adeleke, who had led by 353 votes, resulting in supplementary election which held in seven polling units.
The votes in the supplementary poll had helped the incumbent governor to overturn the deficit and put him ahead of his PDP counterpart, leading to his emergence as the winner of the keenly-contested election.
According to the final votes announced by the electoral umpire that year, Oyetola polled 255,505 votes while Adeleke scored 255,023 votes – a difference of 482 votes.
It was, however, victory at last for the PDP candidate and his supporters on Sunday, July 17, when he was returned elected by Professor Ogundipe who doubles as the Vice Chancellor of the University of Lagos (UNILAG).
Compared to his loss in the last election, Adeleke bounced back to defeat incumbent Governor Oyetola with a vote margin of 28,344.
Meanwhile, President Muhammadu Buhari has sent a congratulatory message to Senator Adeleke following his party’s victory in Saturday’s gubernatorial election.
In a statement by his spokesman, Mr Femi Adesina, on Sunday in Abuja, on his behalf, President Buhari expressed conviction that with the election over, the people of Osun had expressed their will through the ballot, and the will of the people must always matter and be respected in a democracy.
He stated further the successful conduct of the election was a further testimony to the maturity and commitment of all stakeholders – the electoral body, security agencies, political parties, the media, civil society and the electorate – to further strengthen the integrity of the electoral process in the country.
Buhari reassured the nation that the commitment of his administration towards having credible elections remained unshaken.
