By Kazeem Ugbodaga
Incumbent Governor Ademola Adeleke of the Accord Party has established a commanding lead over his closest challenger, All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate Bola Oyebamiji, in results from five local government areas announced by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in Saturday’s Osun State governorship election.
The results from Ede South, Ife North, Boluwaduro, Ilesha West and Ifedayo gave Adeleke a combined 70,808 votes, against 42,474 votes for Oyebamiji of the APC.
The figures give Adeleke a provisional lead of 28,334 votes over Oyebamiji across the five LGAs.
The African Democratic Congress (ADC) candidate, Najeem Salaam, trails significantly with 1,690 votes across the same local government areas.
Adeleke’s strongest performance among the five LGAs came from Ede South, where he secured 26,188 votes, while Oyebamiji polled 6,219 votes and the ADC candidate received 390 votes.
The governor also maintained a strong advantage in Ilesha West, recording 16,196 votes against Oyebamiji’s 12,756, while the ADC polled 673 votes.
In Ife North, Adeleke scored 13,879 votes to Oyebamiji’s 9,613, with the ADC securing 333 votes.
The contest was much closer in Boluwaduro, where Adeleke narrowly edged Oyebamiji with 7,118 votes against 7,050, a difference of just 68 votes.
Adeleke also prevailed in Ifedayo, polling 7,427 votes to Oyebamiji’s 6,836, while the ADC candidate secured 115 votes.
