By Nwafor Sunday, Online News Editor
Governor Ademola Adeleke’s victory in the 2026 Osun State governorship election was driven by a combination of strong performances in his traditional strongholds, decisive victories in key local government areas and an ability to accumulate large vote margins that the All Progressives Congress (APC) could not overturn
The results from the 30 local government areas collated by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) showed Adeleke, who contested on the platform of the Accord Party, defeating the APC candidate, Bola Oyebamiji, in 19 local government areas, while the APC won 11
The African Democratic Congress (ADC), whose candidate was Najeem Salaam, finished a distant third in the three-party contest
The final figures for the three leading parties showed Accord polling 511,067 votes, against 444,815 votes for APC, while ADC recorded 17,180 votes
The figures gave Adeleke a 66,252-vote lead over his closest challenger
But beyond the numbers, Adeleke’s victory also reflected the confidence with which he entered the contest, having repeatedly dismissed concerns over the perceived political weight behind the APC campaign
Days before the election, the governor described himself as a “bulldozer”, declaring that he was not intimidated by what he characterised as federal might or the support of some governors for his opponent
Speaking on Tuesday at the Arise Townhall Meeting, Adeleke said he was prepared to confront the political machinery backing the APC candidate
He said he was not afraid of the governors supporting Oyebamiji and challenged them to bring their full political weight into the contest
“I am a bulldozer I am talk and do. I am not afraid of federal might and governors backing the APC candidate. If they like, they should bring all the governors,” Adeleke said.
The declaration became a defining statement of the governor’s campaign as he sought to convince voters that the election would ultimately be decided by the people of Osun rather than the influence of political heavyweights outside the state
The results suggest that Adeleke was able to translate that confidence into a strong electoral performance
The most revealing feature of the election was not simply the number of local governments won by each candidate, but the size of the margins recorded in their respective strongholds
Adeleke won 19 LGAs, while Oyebamiji carried 11
But some of Adeleke’s victories were particularly large, creating a substantial cushion that APC struggled to erase with its own victories
The clearest example came from the Ede axis
In Ede-North, Accord scored 35,427 votes, while APC recorded 10,283
That gave Adeleke a margin of 25,144 votes in one local government
The result in Ede-South was equally significant
Accord polled 26,188 votes, compared with APC’s 6,219, giving the governor another 19,969-vote advantage
Combined, the two Ede councils gave Accord 61,615 votes, against APC’s 16,502
That amounted to a 45,113-vote net advantage for Adeleke from just two LGAs
It was a margin that would prove difficult for APC to neutralise elsewhere
The state capital also contributed significantly to Adeleke’s performance
In Osogbo Local Government Area, Accord secured 36,480 votes, while APC polled 30,474
Adeleke therefore won the council by 6,006 votes
The ADC scored 1,503 votes in Osogbo, its strongest performance among the 30 LGAs covered by the supplied results
Osogbo was important not only because of its political significance but also because the result demonstrated Adeleke’s ability to remain competitive in an urban centre where APC also had considerable support
The Ife area was another important component of the governor’s victory
Accord won Ife-East, polling 27,201 votes against APC’s 18,600, a margin of 8,601 votes
In Ife-Central, Adeleke secured 21,171 votes, while APC recorded 15,913, giving Accord a further 5,258-vote advantage
Accord also won Ife-North, where it scored 13,879 votes against APC’s 9,613, a margin of 4,266 votes
APC, however, secured Ife-South, polling 14,678 votes against Accord’s 13,507, a margin of 1,171 votes
Overall, the four Ife councils produced 75,758 votes for Accord and 58,804 for APC, giving Adeleke a combined advantage of 16,954 votes
Adeleke’s victory was not confined to Ede, Osogbo and Ife
In Egbedore, Accord scored 19,278 votes, against APC’s 11,194, producing a margin of 8,084 votes
In Iwo, Adeleke polled 27,085 votes, while Oyebamiji recorded 19,660, giving Accord a margin of 7,425 votes
The governor also carried Oriade, where Accord secured 21,343 votes, compared with APC’s 14,863 — a difference of 6,480 votes
These victories helped Adeleke accumulate the substantial overall lead that emerged from the collation
Despite losing the election, the results showed that APC remained a major political force in Osun
Oyebamiji won 11 of the 30 LGAs and recorded some impressive margins
His strongest performance in the supplied results came from Irewole, where APC polled 29,972 votes, against Accord’s 10,934
That gave APC a 19,038-vote advantage in the local government
APC also won Boripe, with 19,963 votes against Accord’s 12,448, a margin of 7,515 votes
It further secured victories in Olorunda, Ilesa-East, Ife-South, Ola-Oluwa, Isokan, Obokun, Atakumosa-West and Atakumosa-East
But the challenge for APC was the distribution and size of those victories
The party won several LGAs, but its combined margins were not enough to offset the much larger margins accumulated by Adeleke in his strongest areas
The 2026 election therefore provides an interesting lesson in electoral mathematics
A candidate does not necessarily need to win every local government to secure a statewide victory
What matters is the aggregate vote total
Adeleke’s 19 victories produced 511,067 votes, while APC’s 11 winning LGAs contributed to an overall total of 444,815 votes
The difference was 66,252 votes
The Ede results alone accounted for a substantial portion of that overall margin
This explains why APC’s victories in several councils, including Irewole and Boripe, were insufficient to overturn Adeleke’s advantage
The ADC did not come close to challenging either Accord or APC for overall victory, but its performance remains relevant to the analysis
The party polled 17,180 votes across the 30 LGAs
Its strongest showing among the supplied results came in Ejigbo, where it scored 5,053 votes
It also recorded 1,503 in Osogbo, 935 in Ife-East, 747 in Ife-Central, and 673 each in Ifedayo and Ilesa-West
In most other LGAs, however, its votes were significantly lower
The ADC therefore emerged as a third force in pockets of the state but did not acquire enough support to seriously threaten the two leading candidates
Thirteen candidates contested the governorship election, but the results demonstrated the dominance of the two leading parties
Yet, the election quickly became a contest dominated by Accord and APC
The combined Accord and APC figures stood at 955,882 votes, compared with 17,180 votes recorded by ADC
That concentration of votes underscored the strength of the two principal political camps
Another important factor in the election was the geographical spread of Adeleke’s victories
His 19 LGAs were spread across different parts of the state
He won Ede-North, Ede-South, Osogbo, Ife-Central, Ife-East, Ila, Boluwaduro, Irepodun, Ayedire, Ejigbo, Ayedaade, Ifelodun, Ife-North, Ilesa-West, Egbedore, Orolu, Oriade, Ifedayo, Odo-Otin and Iwo, based on the results supplied
This spread gave his campaign a broad electoral base
Rather than depending exclusively on one bloc, Adeleke combined overwhelming support in some councils with competitive performances across others
APC’s strongholds could not compensate
Oyebamiji’s 11 victories showed that APC had considerable support across Osun
But the party’s biggest problem was that some of its strongest victories came in areas where Accord’s losses were relatively manageable, while Adeleke was simultaneously building enormous advantages elsewhere
For example, APC’s 19,038-vote advantage in Irewole was significant
But Adeleke’s 45,113-vote combined advantage in Ede-North and Ede-South alone was more than twice the Irewole margin
That is the central arithmetic behind the election
APC won some areas decisively
Adeleke won some areas even more decisively
And the latter proved more consequential when all the votes were aggregated
The Ede results deserve particular attention because they illustrate the scale of the governor’s political strength
Adeleke did not merely win Ede-North and Ede-South
In Ede-North, Accord secured more than three times APC’s vote
In Ede-South, it secured more than four times the APC vote
Together, the two councils generated a margin of 45,113 votes
In a contest ultimately decided by a statewide difference of 66,252 votes, the importance of those two local governments cannot be overstated
From “bulldozer” claim to ballot-box numbers
Before the election, Adeleke’s “bulldozer” declaration was essentially a political challenge: a statement that the presence of federal power and governors backing his opponent would not determine the outcome in Osun
The results provide the numerical context for that claim
His campaign succeeded in producing overwhelming margins in areas such as Ede-North and Ede-South, while maintaining enough support in other parts of the state to win 19 LGAs
The APC, despite its institutional and political strength, could not translate its 11 local government victories into enough votes to close the statewide gap
In that sense, the election became a test not merely of political influence but of how effectively each side converted its support into actual votes
And on the figures available, Adeleke’s side did that more effectively
The 2026 Osun governorship election was ultimately a contest between two dominant political structures
APC demonstrated that it remained a formidable force, winning 11 LGAs and posting large margins in some of them
But Adeleke’s Accord Party carried 19 LGAs and, more importantly, produced sufficiently large margins in key councils to establish a lead that APC could not overcome
The final figures tell the story:
Accord — 511,067 votes
Accord’s lead over APC — 66,252 votes
Adeleke’s victory was therefore not simply about winning 19 local governments against APC’s 11
It was about where he won, how many votes he accumulated there and the size of the margins he created
Ede-North and Ede-South provided the biggest cushion Osogbo strengthened the position. The Ife axis broadened the advantage, while victories in Egbedore, Iwo, Oriade and other councils prevented APC from closing the gap.
Before the election, Adeleke had presented himself as a “bulldozer”, insisting that he was not intimidated by federal might or the governors backing his opponent
After the votes were counted, the numbers showed that the governor had indeed built a formidable electoral advantage
Adeleke won 19 LGAs, polled 511,067 votes and defeated APC by 66,252 votes — putting him on course for a second term in Osun State