Adeleke Wins Second Term as Osun Governor, Defeating APC Challenger
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has declared Governor Ademola Adeleke of the Accord Party the winner of the 2026 Osun State governorship election, securing a second term in office.
Adeleke defeated his closest challenger, Bola Oyebamiji of the All Progressives Congress (APC), after Saturday’s election across the state’s 30 local government areas.
According to the final figures reported from the collation, Adeleke polled 511,067 votes, while Oyebamiji received 444,815 votes. Adeleke therefore won by a margin of 66,252 votes based on those figures.
The result represents a significant political development ahead of Nigeria’s 2027 general elections, particularly because Osun has historically been a closely contested state between the APC and opposition parties.
Adeleke’s victory also means he will remain governor beyond his first four-year term, having originally won the governorship in 2022. He contested this year’s election under the Accord Party, following the political developments that saw him leave the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
The election was contested by several candidates, with APC’s Bola Oyebamiji emerging as Adeleke’s principal challenger and Najeem Salaam of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) also in the race. Final results showed the contest was largely a two-party battle between Adeleke and Oyebamiji.
The election also attracted attention because of reports of vote buying and isolated incidents of violence, although early assessments described voting across much of the state as relatively peaceful. Vanguard reported allegations that votes were being offered for as much as ₦30,000 in some locations.
The Osun election is one of Nigeria’s important off-cycle governorship contests and provides an early indication of the political mood ahead of 2027.
Adeleke’s ability to retain the governorship despite the APC’s effort to reclaim the state gives the opposition-controlled state another four years under his administration.
His victory is also notable when compared with the 2022 election, when Adeleke, then running under the PDP, defeated former governor Gboyega Oyetola with 403,371 votes to Oyetola’s 375,027.
The 2026 result shows that Adeleke has increased his vote total substantially compared with his 2022 performance, although the change in party affiliation and the different field of candidates make direct comparisons more complicated.
