Adeleke Breaks Silence After Beating APC’s Oyebamiji to Secure Second Term

Osun State Governor, Ademola Adeleke, has broken his silence following his victory in the governorship election.

Shortly after the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) declared him the winner, Adeleke took to X, where he simply posted his campaign slogan.

“#ImoleCarryOnAccordingly,” he wrote.

The governor’s post came following a fiercely contested election in which he defeated the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate, Bola Oyebamiji, to secure a second term in office.

Adeleke polled 511,067 votes to defeat Oyebamiji, who secured 444,815 votes. The African Democratic Congress (ADC) candidate, Najeem Salaam, finished behind the two leading contenders.

INEC declared Adeleke the winner in the early hours of Sunday after completing the collation of results from the 30 local government areas of the state.

The election had been regarded as a major political battle, with Oyebamiji receiving strong backing from prominent APC figures who were involved in the party’s campaign and monitoring activities in the state.

Among the APC leaders who visited Osun ahead of the election were Imo State Governor and chairman of the APC National Campaign Council, Hope Uzodinma; Kaduna State Governor and chairman of the Osun APC Monitoring and Compliance Committee, Uba Sani; Lagos State Governor and chairman of the South-West Governors’ Forum, Babajide Sanwo-Olu; Ondo State Governor, Lucky Aiyedatiwa; and Ogun State Governor, Dapo Abiodun.

Other senior APC figures involved in the election campaign included Senate President Godswill Akpabio, APC National Chairman Nentawe Yilwatda, Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives Benjamin Kalu and Deputy President of the Senate Barau Jibrin.

The ruling party sought to wrest control of the state from Adeleke and return the governorship to the APC.

Despite the intense contest and the high-profile support enjoyed by Oyebamiji, Adeleke emerged victorious after securing a margin of 66,252 votes over his closest challenger.

We reported earlier that the governor received a congratulatory telephone call from President Bola Tinubu, according to Accord Party chieftain Pelumi Olajengbesi.

Olajengbesi disclosed the development while addressing journalists at the INEC collation centre in Osogbo after Adeleke had been declared the winner.

According to him, Tinubu personally called Adeleke on Saturday night to congratulate him after the results had emerged and indicated that the incumbent governor was ahead of Oyebamiji.

“The President congratulated Governor Adeleke last night,” Olajengbesi said.

Olajengbesi also commended Tinubu for what he described as his decision not to interfere in the election, saying the President had kept his promise to allow Osun residents to choose their governor.

However, Olajengbesi criticised some aspects of the electoral process, arguing that while the outcome could be considered credible, the election could not be described as entirely free and fair because of violent incidents reported in parts of the state before and during voting.

The election was also accompanied by intense public reactions, particularly over the deployment of security personnel across Osun State.

Adeleke’s nephew, Afrobeats singer David Adeleke, popularly known as Davido, had openly criticised Tinubu over the development.

On Saturday, Davido directly addressed the President in a post on X, writing, “U no try @officialABAT.”

The singer had earlier accused the Tinubu administration of undermining democracy in connection with reports concerning the deployment of police and military personnel during the election.

“Because we are winning. They want to withdraw the police and military! MR PRESIDENT TINUBU ! UR KILLING DEMOCRACY,” Davido wrote.

He also intervened after reports of technical difficulties involving the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) at some polling units, urging INEC officials to use the alternative camera on the devices where necessary.

“If your BVAS camera is not working, please tell the officials to use front camera. It is very active and fast!,” he said.

A total of 15 political parties contested the governorship election.