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…As Incumbent defeats APC’s Oyebamiji by 66,252 votes
- Accord wins 19 of 30 LGAs
- 15 parties contest poll
- Adeleke secures fresh four-year mandate after dramatic party switch
OSOGBO, OSUN STATE — Governor Ademola Adeleke has secured a second term in office after winning the Osun State governorship election conducted on Saturday, August 15, 2026, defeating his closest challenger, Bola Oyebamiji of the All Progressives Congress (APC), in a closely fought contest that attracted 15 political parties.
Adeleke, who contested under the Accord Party after leaving the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), polled 511,067 votes to defeat Oyebamiji, who scored 444,815 votes, according to the final declaration by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
The Accord candidate won by a margin of 66,252 votes, an improvement on the 28,344-vote margin with which he defeated former Governor Gboyega Oyetola of the APC in the 2022 election.
Najeem Salaam of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) finished a distant third with 17,180 votes.
The Returning Officer for the election, Joshua Ogunwole, declared Adeleke the winner at the INEC State Collation Centre in Osogbo in the early hours of Sunday.
“For that, Adeleke Ademola Jackson of the Accord Party, having satisfied the requirement of the law, is hereby declared the winner and is hereby returned elected,” Ogunwole declared.
INEC said 1,010,684 voters were accredited for the election, while 1,005,800 votes were cast and 985,079 were valid. The election was conducted across all 30 local government areas of Osun State.
The result means Adeleke will remain in the Bola Ige House for another four years, extending a political comeback that began with his victory over the incumbent APC administration in 2022.
A Two-Horse Race That Went Down to the Wire
Although 15 political parties participated in the election, the contest ultimately became a battle between Adeleke’s Accord and Oyebamiji’s APC.
The result showed the depth of the political contest across the state, with Accord taking 19 local government areas, while the APC won 11.
Adeleke’s victory is particularly significant because he did not seek re-election on the platform that brought him to power four years ago.
In 2022, Adeleke contested under the PDP and defeated then-incumbent Governor Gboyega Oyetola of the APC with 403,371 votes against Oyetola’s 375,027. He won 17 of the state’s 30 local government areas.
Four years later, he returned to the ballot under a different political platform and increased both his overall vote tally and winning margin.
The 2026 result therefore represents not only a personal victory for the governor but also a major test of whether a sitting governor could transfer his electoral support from one political platform to another.
Adeleke has now answered that question at the polls.
From PDP to Accord: The Gamble Pays Off
The governor’s journey to the 2026 election was one of the defining political developments in Osun State.
Adeleke resigned from the PDP in December 2025 after citing the prolonged crisis within the party’s national leadership. He subsequently announced his move to the Accord Party, revealing that he had actually joined the party on November 6, 2025, following consultations with political stakeholders and opinion leaders.
Explaining his decision, Adeleke said Accord’s emphasis on welfare was consistent with his administration’s stated focus on the well-being of citizens and workers.
“We opted for the Accord Party because its mission of welfarism aligns with our passionate focus on citizens and workers’ welfare,” he said at the time.
The decision was initially viewed by some political observers as a major gamble, particularly because the PDP had provided the platform through which Adeleke won the governorship in 2022.
But Saturday’s result has transformed that gamble into an electoral success.
Rather than losing the political structure associated with his first victory, Adeleke succeeded in securing a majority of votes under a new party banner, suggesting that a significant portion of his political support was attached to his candidacy and administration rather than exclusively to the PDP.
APC’s Challenge Falls Short
For the APC, the election represented an opportunity to reclaim Osun after losing the governorship to Adeleke in 2022.
The party presented Bola Oyebamiji, a former Managing Director of the National Inland Waterways Authority, as its candidate and mounted an aggressive campaign across the state.
The APC’s national leadership had described the election as strategically important and expressed confidence that the state could return to the party’s fold.
Oyebamiji, however, ultimately fell 66,252 votes short of Adeleke.
The APC’s performance was nevertheless substantial, with the party securing 444,815 votes and winning 11 local government areas.
The result indicates that the ruling party at the federal level maintained a formidable electoral presence in Osun, but was unable to overcome Adeleke’s advantage across the state.
Months of Tension, Political Intrigue
The election came after months of intense political activity, legal disputes and allegations between rival political camps.
Security concerns were particularly prominent in the build-up to the poll, with political parties and their supporters trading accusations over alleged violence and intimidation.
The state had already been identified by electoral authorities as requiring heightened security attention. INEC said it had identified 385 potential flashpoints and about 200 difficult-to-access terrains across the state’s 30 local government areas as part of its risk assessment for the election.
The security concerns were not merely theoretical.
In July, suspected political thugs attacked an INEC Permanent Voter Card distribution centre in Okuku, Odo-Otin Local Government Area, firing shots into the air and carting away packs of PVCs. The police subsequently launched an investigation.
Against that background, political parties and stakeholders also signed a peace accord in July, pledging to pursue a peaceful and credible election.
The Inspector-General of Police, Tunji Disu, also met with Governor Adeleke and other stakeholders ahead of the poll amid concerns about political violence.
INEC Faces Last-Minute Legal and Logistical Test
INEC’s preparations for the election were complicated by legal developments involving the Social Democratic Party (SDP).
A Federal High Court judgment concerning the party’s governorship candidate created a last-minute challenge for the electoral commission, with the SDP seeking further judicial intervention at the Court of Appeal.
INEC nevertheless said it had adjusted its preparations to accommodate the court developments.
The commission’s National Commissioner supervising Osun, Kunle Ajayi, disclosed shortly before the election that millions of ballot papers had been printed within 36 hours following the late judicial development.
“We were able to print all ballot papers, millions, within 36 hours,” Ajayi said, explaining that the commission worked continuously to ensure that the court decision did not derail the election.
INEC also assured voters that polling-unit results would be uploaded to its Result Viewing Portal, IReV.
The commission had earlier configured 4,427 Bimodal Voter Accreditation System devices, including 664 backup units, while establishing 97 Super Registration Area Centres and 105 Registration Area Centres for the election.
On election day, INEC officials and materials were deployed across the state, with 2,339,233 registered voters eligible to participate.
Security Tightened Across Osun
With the state classified as politically sensitive, security agencies mounted an extensive operation around the election.
Police authorities deployed thousands of personnel across Osun, while aerial surveillance capabilities were also deployed as part of efforts to prevent violence and monitor potentially volatile areas.
The security measures followed repeated warnings that the election must not be allowed to degenerate into violence.
The heightened security environment also reflected the broader political importance attached to the poll, particularly as Osun has historically been one of the key battlegrounds in South-West politics.
A Test for Tinubu’s Promise of Electoral Integrity
The election also attracted national attention because of the direct intervention of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu in the political and security environment surrounding the poll.
The President had called on security agencies to ensure maximum protection for voters and polling units and urged INEC to guarantee a transparent and credible process.
He specifically warned that there should be no room for troublemakers to disrupt the election.
The President’s intervention came amid concerns over the escalating political temperature in Osun and calls by various groups for the Federal Government to ensure that the electorate was allowed to freely determine the outcome.
The election therefore became more than a contest between Adeleke and Oyebamiji; it was also viewed as a test of Nigeria’s ability to conduct a competitive off-cycle election in which political power at the state level was fiercely contested.
The EFCC Controversy
Another controversy erupted shortly before the election when the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) moved against an account belonging to the Osun State Government.
The development generated political controversy because of its timing, with concerns raised over the possible implications of the action on the election.
President Tinubu subsequently intervened and directed that the account be unfrozen, amid concerns about the appropriateness of such action in the immediate run-up to a governorship election.
The episode added another layer of political intrigue to an already tense electoral environment.
A Relatively Peaceful Election Day
Despite the anxiety that preceded the poll, reports from the field indicated that voting proceeded in many areas without the widespread breakdown of order feared by stakeholders.
Voters began arriving at polling units early on Saturday, with INEC officials setting up voting points and displaying voter registers.
Observers also reported positive experiences at some polling locations, with voters commending the organisation of the exercise.
A retired public servant, Fawole Ademola, described the process as peaceful and gave INEC a high rating for its performance at his polling unit.
While isolated incidents and complaints were reported, the overall process culminated in the successful collation and declaration of the statewide result.
Jubilation Sweeps Osun
The declaration of Adeleke as winner triggered celebrations across the state.
In Osogbo, the state capital, supporters took to the streets in celebration, while similar scenes were reported in Ede, the governor’s hometown.
Music, dancing, chants and the display of Accord Party symbols dominated the celebrations as supporters celebrated what they regarded as a decisive endorsement of the governor.
The mood was particularly significant in Ede, where Adeleke has maintained a strong political base and where his family has long been associated with political influence.
The victory also sparked celebrations among members of the Accord Party, which has now secured one of its most significant electoral victories since its emergence as a platform in Nigeria’s increasingly competitive multiparty environment.
What Adeleke’s Victory Means
Adeleke’s re-election carries implications beyond Osun State.
First, it demonstrates the electoral strength of an incumbent who successfully changed political parties without losing the core of his electoral coalition.
Second, it represents a setback for the APC’s effort to regain control of Osun ahead of the 2027 general elections.
Third, the result reinforces Osun’s reputation as one of Nigeria’s most competitive political states, where voters have repeatedly demonstrated a willingness to change governing parties.
Most importantly, the election provides an early indication of how political loyalties may evolve ahead of the 2027 general elections.
Adeleke’s victory gives him another four years to consolidate his administration, pursue unfinished programmes and strengthen his political influence in Osun and the wider South-West.
For the APC, the result creates a new challenge: how to rebuild its coalition in a state where it retains a substantial electoral base but has now lost two consecutive governorship contests to Adeleke.
For Accord, the victory is potentially transformative.
A party that was previously a relatively minor player in Nigeria’s electoral landscape has now produced a sitting governor with a fresh four-year mandate.
Adeleke’s Second-Term Challenge
Victory, however, brings its own demands.
The governor’s first term was marked by a strong emphasis on infrastructure, workers’ welfare, local government administration and public-sector reforms, while political controversies over local government control and relations with opposition groups also persisted.
The second term will therefore be judged not merely by the scale of Saturday’s victory but by the administration’s ability to translate the mandate into tangible improvements in the lives of Osun residents.
The electorate has given Adeleke another four years.
The political contest is over for now.
The harder task — governing — begins again.
For a governor who has now won two governorship elections on two different political platforms, the next four years could determine whether Ademola Adeleke’s political journey becomes merely a story of electoral resilience or the beginning of a lasting political legacy in Osun and the wider South-West.
Adeleke has won the ballot. His second-term performance will now be the measure of the mandate.
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