Governor Ademola Adeleke of Osun State has taken an early lead in the ongoing governorship election, securing 268,957 votes against 204,809 votes recorded by his closest rival, Bola Oyebamiji of the All Progressives Congress (APC), after results from 14 of the state’s 30 local government areas were declared.
The results, collated from local government collation centres of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), put Adeleke ahead of Oyebamiji by 64,148 votes.
Adeleke, who is contesting on the platform of the Accord Party, has so far won nine of the 14 local government areas for which results have been announced, while the APC has secured victories in five.
The governor recorded some of his strongest performances in Ede North, where he polled 35,427 votes against Oyebamiji’s 10,283 votes. He also won convincingly in Ede South with 26,188 votes, compared with the APC candidate’s 6,219 votes.
In Osogbo, Adeleke secured 36,480 votes against 30,474 recorded by the APC, while in Iwo, he polled 27,085 votes to defeat Oyebamiji, who secured 19,660 votes.
The APC, however, recorded victories in Irepodun, Obokun, Ola-Oluwa, Atakunmosa East and Ife South.
In Irepodun, the APC polled 15,713 votes against Adeleke’s 14,502, while in Obokun, Oyebamiji secured 16,120 votes against the governor’s 12,023 votes.
Despite the emerging figures, the final outcome of the election remains uncertain as results from only 14 of the state’s 30 local government areas have so far been declared.
The collation of results is continuing at the state collation centre, with attention now focused on the remaining local government areas that will determine the final outcome of the closely watched contest.
INEC is expected to announce the final result and declare the winner after the collation of results from all the local government areas.
