Pat Stevens & Segun Atanda/
President Bola Tinubu has congratulated Governor Ademola Adeleke on his re-election in Osun State, describing the result as evidence that democracy can continue to thrive under his administration.
Tinubu said he personally called Adeleke earlier on Sunday to congratulate him on his victory in Saturday’s governorship election.
The President’s intervention came shortly after the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) formally declared Adeleke the winner, bringing an end to a closely watched contest in which the incumbent governor successfully defended his seat against the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate, Bola Oyebamiji.
Adeleke, who contested under the Accord Party rather than the APC or the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), polled 511,067 votes to defeat Oyebamiji, who secured 444,815 votes. The ADC candidate, Najeem Salaam, finished third with 17,180 votes.
Adeleke’s winning margin was 66,252 votes.
The final figures announced by the Returning Officer, Joshua Ogunwole, showed 985,079 valid votes, 207 rejected votes and 1,005,800 total votes cast, with 1,010,684 accredited voters.
Adeleke also won 19 of Osun’s 30 local government areas, while Oyebamiji carried the remaining 11, according to the final results.
In his statement, Tinubu said Adeleke’s re-election was a “fitting assurance” that democracy would continue to flourish in Nigeria.
The President said Adeleke’s victory confirmed the confidence voters had placed in him and wished the governor success during his second term.
Tinubu also urged Adeleke to use the victory to unite Osun residents regardless of how they voted and to mobilise the state towards growth, stability and social and economic progress.
The President praised the other candidates for what he described as the courage and discipline they displayed during the election, saying their participation strengthened Nigeria’s democratic culture.
He also commended INEC and the security agencies for conducting what he described as a peaceful and transparent election that produced a clear winner.
Adeleke’s victory is particularly notable because he contested the election on the platform of Accord after leaving the PDP, the party under which he won the 2022 election.
Adeleke formally joined Accord in November 2025 and announced the move publicly in December, saying he had chosen the party as his platform for seeking a second term.
The move transformed the political configuration of the state ahead of the election. Several political figures and legislators subsequently followed Adeleke into Accord, including the Speaker of the Osun State House of Assembly and 24 members of the state legislature.
The scale of Adeleke’s victory is also notable when compared with the 2022 election.
Four years ago, Adeleke, then the PDP candidate, defeated the APC’s Gboyega Oyetola with 403,371 votes to 375,027, a margin of 28,344 votes. He won 17 of the state’s 30 local government areas.
In the latest election, his margin over Oyebamiji increased to 66,252 votes, while his total vote rose by more than 107,000 compared with his 2022 tally.
The 2022 election was followed by a prolonged legal battle. An election petition tribunal initially nullified Adeleke’s victory and declared Oyetola the winner after deducting votes it considered affected by over-voting. The Court of Appeal subsequently overturned that decision, and the Supreme Court in May 2023 upheld Adeleke’s election.
For Tinubu and the APC, the outcome represents a defeat in one of the South-West’s politically competitive states.
The APC did not, however, suffer a complete collapse. Oyebamiji won 11 local government areas and secured more than 444,000 votes, demonstrating that the party retains a substantial electoral base in Osun.
Adeleke subsequently confirmed that Tinubu had personally called to congratulate him.
The governor said he appreciated the President’s gesture and thanked him for what he described as his support for a peaceful electoral process.
Tinubu’s message also placed an obligation on the returning governor.
The President specifically urged him to unite the state irrespective of voters’ political choices and to focus on growth, stability and social and economic progress.
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