Adeleke Takes Early Lead as Osun Governorship Results Collation Continues

By Peter Dansu  Governor Ademola Adeleke of the Accord Party has taken an early lead in the ongoing collation of results from Saturday’s gov...

By Peter Dansu 

Governor Ademola Adeleke of the Accord Party has taken an early lead in the ongoing collation of results from Saturday’s governorship election in Osun State, ahead of his closest rival, the All Progressives Congress candidate, Bola Oyebamiji.

Checks according to Punch Newspapers on the Nigeria Elections Intelligence System showed that results from 303 of the state’s 332 wards had been collated as of the time of filing this report.

Adeleke had polled 177,572 votes, representing 50.5 per cent of the votes recorded so far, while Oyebamiji followed with 158,588 votes, representing 45.1 per cent.

The African Democratic Congress candidate, Najeem Salaam, was in third position with 5,917 votes as the collation continued across the state’s 30 local government areas.

The figures so far showed that out of 845,100 registered voters in Osun State, 361,500 were accredited, representing a voter turnout of 42.8 per cent. A total of 351,500 valid votes had been recorded, while 7,200 ballots were rejected.

The Independent National Electoral Commission also reported that 43.41 per cent of polling units had submitted their results as the collation entered its concluding stages.

Adeleke, who is seeking a second term in office, defected from the Peoples Democratic Party to the Accord Party ahead of the election. INEC cleared 14 political parties to participate in the poll after the PDP and Labour Party failed to field candidates.

Adeleke is running with Kola Adenusi as his deputy, while Oyebamiji, a former Managing Director of the National Inland Waterways Authority, is contesting alongside Benjamin Adereti.

With several outstanding wards yet to be collated, the race remains open as the final figures continue to emerge.

The official winner will be declared by INEC’s Returning Officer at the state collation centre after all outstanding results have been received and duly collated.