By Our Reporter
Governor Ademola Adeleke’s victory in the 2026 Osun governorship election was less about the number of local government areas won and more about the large margins recorded in his strongest political strongholds.
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) declared Adeleke, the Accord Party candidate, the winner after he received 511,067 votes, surpassing his closest opponent, the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate Bola Oyebamiji, who scored 444,815 votes. Adeleke won by a margin of 66,252 votes.
Although Adeleke won 19 of the state’s 30 local government areas, APC still demonstrated considerable strength by taking 11 councils. However, the size of Adeleke’s victories in several key areas proved decisive, particularly in the Ede axis. In Ede North, Adeleke secured 35,427 votes against Oyebamiji’s 10,283, giving him a margin of 25,144 votes. In Ede South, he scored 26,188 votes against APC’s 6,219, adding another 19,969 votes to his advantage. Together, the two councils gave Adeleke a net lead of 45,113 votes.
The governor also strengthened his position in Osogbo and across the Ife axis. In Osogbo, Adeleke polled 36,480 votes against Oyebamiji’s 30,474, while in Ife East, Ife Central and Ife North, he recorded combined victories that produced a further substantial advantage. APC, however, remained competitive, winning areas including Irewole, Boripe, Ilesa East, Obokun, Olorunda and Ife South. Its strongest margin among the supplied results came in Irewole, where Oyebamiji defeated Adeleke by 19,038 votes.
The results ultimately underscored the importance of electoral mathematics: winning more local government areas does not necessarily translate into victory when the losing candidate’s victories are smaller in aggregate. Adeleke’s ability to pile up large margins in strategic areas gave him the cushion APC could not erase. His re-election therefore reflected not only a broader spread of victories but, more importantly, the decisive weight of votes delivered by his strongest constituencies.