Osun Election: Adeleke Maintains Lead as Results Collation Continues

Governor Ademola Adeleke of the Accord Party has maintained his lead in the ongoing collation of results from Saturday’s governorship election in Osun State.

As of the latest figures available, results from 303 of the state’s 332 wards had been collated, with Adeleke recording 177,572 votes, representing 50.5 per cent of the votes counted.

His closest rival, the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate, Bola Oyebamiji, polled 158,588 votes, representing 45.1 per cent.

The African Democratic Congress (ADC) candidate, Najeem Salaam, remained in third position with 5,917 votes as collation continued across the state’s 30 Local Government Areas.

The figures showed that 361,500 of the 845,100 registered voters had been accredited, putting voter turnout at 42.8 per cent. Of the votes cast, 351,500 were declared valid, while 7,200 ballots were rejected.

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) said 43.41 per cent of polling units had reported their results as the collation process entered its final stages.

Adeleke, who is seeking another term in office, contested the election on the platform of the Accord Party after leaving the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). INEC approved 14 political parties for the election after the PDP and Labour Party failed to field candidates.

Adeleke is contesting alongside his running mate, Kola Adenusi, while Oyebamiji is paired with Benjamin Adereti.

The final outcome is expected to be announced by INEC’s Returning Officer at the state collation centre after all outstanding results have been received and verified.

Punch Newspaper reports that collation remains ongoing and the figures may change before the final declaration by INEC.