Segun Atanda/
Senator Ademola Adeleke of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has been declared by the Independent Electoral Commission, INEC, as the winner of yesterday’s governorship election held in Osun State.
The INEC Chief Returning Officer for Osun, Prof. Oluwatoyin Ogundipe, who announced the result Sunday Morning said the PDP candidate scored 403,371 votes to emerge victorious.
The runner-up was the incumbent governor, Gboyega Oyetola of the All Progressives Congress (APC), who polled 375,027 votes.
I hereby declare that Ademola Adeleke “having satisfied the requirement of the law is hereby declared the winner and he is returned elected,” Prof. Ogundipe said.
Apart from winning the total majority votes, the PDP also won in the majority of the state’s local governments. The PDP won in 17 of Osun’s 30 local governments while the APC won in 13.
None of the other 13 candidates who took part in the election won in any local government.
A total of 15 political parties took part in the election held on Saturday across the 30 local governments of Osun.
Many observers described the election as free of violence but characterised by vote buying.
The two leading candidates also battled in the 2018 governorship election in the state which was controversially won by Oyetola.
A breakdown of votes in each of the LGAs shows that PDP got 7,750 votes in Atakumosa West, while APC scored 6,601. In Ede North, Adeleke scored 23,931 votes to defeat Oyetola who polled 9,603 votes. Adeleke also won in Obokun LGA with 13,575 votes, while Oyetola scored 9,727 votes. In Ife North, Adeleke won with 10, 359 votes while Oyetola scored 9, 964 votes. Adeleke won in Ejigbo LGA where he scored 18, 065 votes while Oyetola got 14, 355 votes.
The PDP candidate also won in Orolu with 10,282 votes while APC got 9,928 votes. Adeleke scored 13,230 votes in Egbedore LGA to defeat Oyetola who scored 9,228 votes. In Ilesa West, Adeleke won with 13,769 votes, while Oyetola scored 10,777 votes.
The Polling Officer in one of the units in the LGA was attacked and hospitalised.
In Oriade LGA, Adeleke scored 15,947 votes while Oyetola came second with 14,189 votes. Adeleke polled 5,860 votes in Boluwaduro, while Oyetola scored 5,649 votes. To win Olorunda LGA, Adeleke polled 21, 350 votes while Oyetola secured 18,709 votes. In Ede South, Adeleke who is popularly known as the ‘dancing senator’ won 19,438 votes while the incumbent governor had 5,704. Adeleke polled 10,282 to win Orolu LGA where Oyetola secured 9928 votes.
The PDP candidate also won in Chief Bisi Akande’s Ila LGA with 13,036 votes, while Oyetola scored 11,163 votes. In Osogbo, the PDP candidate polled 30,401 votes — well ahead of the APC flag bearer who secured 22,952 votes. Odo-Otin LGA also went the way of the PDP as Adeleke got 14,003 votes while Oyetola picked up 13,482. Some hoodlums invaded one of the polling units and went away with a ballot box. The police went after them and recovered the ballot box and arrested the hoodlums.
To win Ifelodun LGA, the PDP candidate got 17,107 votes while Oyetola placed second with 16,068 votes. Adeleke also won Irepodun LGA with 14,369 votes while the APC candidate got 12,122.
Iwo LGA went to the Osun governor who picked 17, 421 votes compared to the 16,914 secured by Adeleke. Polling 14,527 in Ayedaade LGA, the incumbent governor also beat Adeleke who had 13,380 votes. In Boripe LGA, Oyetola also emerged victorious, polling 21,205 votes to defeat the PDP candidate who had 7,595. Oyetola won Isokan LGA by a slim margin, securing 10,833 votes while Adeleke got 10,777.
The Osun State governor also scored 9, 123 votes in Ola Oluwa LGA to lead Adeleke who polled 7, 205 votes. In Ife South, Oyetola scored 12, 481 votes, while Adeleke got 9,116 votes.
Oyetola also won in Ilesa East LGA with 13,452 votes, while Adeleke scored 10,969 votes.
Oyetola won in Ayedire with 7, 868 votes while Adeleke scored 7, 402 votes.In Ife Central, Oyetola defeated Adeleke with 17,880 votes while the PDP got 13,532 votes. Oyetola also defeated Adeleke in Ifedayo LGA with 5,016 votes while the PDP candidate scored 4,730 votes.
In Atakunmosa East, Oyetola scored 7,449 votes while Adeleke scored 6, 992.
However, votes in Ward 07 and Ward 08 in Ilesa East were cancelled as hoodlums disrupted the voting process and carted away ballot boxes. In Ife Central, Oyetola scored 17, 880 votes to defeat Adeleke who scored 13, 532. Oyetola also scored 18, 189 votes to win in Irewole LGA while Adeleke got 14, 216 votes.
The Minister of Interior and former Governor of Osun State, Aregbesola, did not vote during the poll. He was sighted at a restaurant in the U.S. The pioneer Chairman of the APC, Chief Bisi Akande also lost his Ila LGA to the PDP.
In 2018, Adeleke was leading in the election before it was declared inconclusive by INEC which also ordered a re-run in seven polling units.
The re-run election was heavily militarised and many voters disenfranchised by armed thugs. It was won by the APC candidate which also helped him secure victory in the general election.
Adeleke, a former senator, would see his victory in the latest election as a vindication that he was the original winner of the 2018 election.
The PDP candidate will not, however, be sworn in until November when the tenure of Mr Oyetola will be over.
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