The Accord candidate secured 511,067 votes and won 19 of 30 local government areas to defeat APC challenger Bola Oyebamiji
Governor Ademola Adeleke of the Accord Party was declared winner of the Osun State governorship election in the early hours of Sunday, August 16, 2026, after polling 511,067 votes to defeat his closest challenger, All Progressives Congress candidate Bola Oyebamiji, by 66,252 votes.
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The declaration was made by the State Returning Officer, Professor Joshua Olalekan Ogunwole, Vice-Chancellor of the Federal University Oye-Ekiti, at the Osun State Governorship Election Collation Centre in Osogbo after results from all 30 local government areas had been collated.
Multiple reports confirm Oyebamiji polled 444,815 votes, while African Democratic Congress candidate Najeem Salaam finished third with 17,180 votes.
The result means Adeleke has secured another term as governor, extending a political journey that began with his victory over former Governor Gboyega Oyetola in the 2022 governorship election.
Adeleke’s latest victory was broader geographically than his 2022 triumph. He won 19 of Osun’s 30 local government areas, while Oyebamiji carried 11, according to the final collation. (Blueprint Newspapers Limited)
The figures also show the scale of the contest. Adeleke’s 511,067 votes represented a lead of 66,252 over Oyebamiji’s 444,815, a margin large enough to withstand several substantial APC victories across the state.
The governor’s strongest performances came in areas where he built sizeable leads early in the collation. In Ede North, he secured 35,427 votes against Oyebamiji’s 10,283, giving him a remarkable 25,144-vote advantage.
Ede South also produced a decisive result for Adeleke, with the governor recording 26,188 votes against Oyebamiji’s 6,219.
Adeleke further strengthened his position in Iwo, where he polled 27,085 votes to Oyebamiji’s 19,660, and in Ife East, where he recorded 27,201 votes against the APC candidate’s 18,600.
In Osogbo, the state capital, Adeleke secured 36,480 votes, defeating Oyebamiji, who polled 30,474. The governor also won Ife Central with 21,171 votes against 15,913 for the APC candidate.
His other notable victories came in Ede South, Oriade, Ilesha West, Odo Otin, Ife North, Ifedayo, Orolu, Ifelodun, Ila, Aiyedire, Egbedore, Ayedaade and Ejigbo.
Some of the contests were considerably tighter. In Boluwaduro, Adeleke edged Oyebamiji by just 68 votes, polling 7,118 against the APC candidate’s 7,050.
In Ayedaade, Adeleke won by 962 votes, while in Isokan, Oyebamiji prevailed by only 298 votes.
The APC candidate nevertheless demonstrated considerable strength in several parts of the state.
His biggest victory in the supplied results came in Irewole, where he polled 29,972 votes against Adeleke’s 10,934, producing a 19,038-vote margin.
Oyebamiji also won Boripe, with 19,963 votes against Adeleke’s 12,448, and Obokun, where he recorded 16,120 votes against 12,023.
He carried Ilesha East, Irepodun, Atakumosa West, Atakumosa East, Isokan, Ola Oluwa, Ife South and Olorunda, adding important pockets of support to the APC’s overall tally.
The performance suggests that the election was not a one-sided contest. Oyebamiji was competitive across several areas, but Adeleke’s larger margins in strategically important local government areas ultimately created the decisive statewide advantage.
For the ADC’s Najeem Salaam, the result placed him a distant third with 17,180 votes.
His strongest showing came in Ejigbo, his home local government, where he secured 5,053 votes, although Adeleke still won the area with 18,458 votes against Oyebamiji’s 16,195.
The result marks another significant chapter in Adeleke’s political career.
In the 2022 election, Adeleke, then the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, polled 403,371 votes to defeat Oyetola, who secured 375,027. He won that contest by 28,344 votes.
Four years later, his winning margin has more than doubled, while his vote total has risen by more than 107,000 compared with his 2022 result.
His political platform has also changed. Having won in 2022 under the PDP, Adeleke contested the 2026 election on the Accord platform and successfully secured another mandate.
The victory therefore carries significance beyond the immediate figures. It demonstrates Adeleke’s ability to retain statewide support despite the change of political platform and an opposition challenge led by Oyebamiji, a former Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of the National Inland Waterways Authority.
The final figures also underline the importance of local government-level mobilisation in Osun politics. Adeleke’s strongest margins in Ede North, Ede South, Iwo, Ife East and other areas helped offset Oyebamiji’s commanding performance in Irewole and his victories across parts of Osun Central and Osun East.
With the final declaration now made, Adeleke’s re-election gives him another four years to pursue his administration’s agenda while facing the expectations of voters who have handed him a renewed mandate.
For Oyebamiji and the APC, the 66,252-vote defeat will provide a basis for examining where the party’s strong local government performances failed to translate into an overall victory.
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For Osun, the immediate significance is clear: the governor who first captured the state’s highest office in 2022 has successfully defended it in 2026, securing a fresh mandate after another closely watched contest.
Quadri Olaitan is a journalist and contributor to Freelanews.com, covering news, public affairs, and human-interest stories.
