Governor Ademola Adeleke has taken a provisional lead in the Osun governorship election as results from about 94.8 per cent of polling units were recorded on INEC’s Result Viewing Portal. The Accord Party candidate was ahead of APC challenger Bola Oyebamiji in several key local government areas as collation continued, but voters must await the Independent National Electoral Commission’s formal declaration before treating any candidate as the winner.
The Osun election results showed Adeleke performing strongly in Osogbo, Oriade, Iwo, Ede South, Ife North, Ife East and Irepodun, according to figures available during the collation process.
Oyebamiji of the All Progressives Congress (APC) remained Adeleke’s main challenger, while Najeem Salaam of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) trailed the two leading candidates.
INEC had cleared candidates from 14 political parties for the election, including Adeleke, Oyebamiji and Salaam.
Adeleke entered the election on the Accord platform after leaving the Peoples Democratic Party. New Daily Prime earlier reported the Accord Party’s move to welcome Adeleke ahead of the 2026 governorship contest.
Adeleke records big margins in key councils
Among the significant results contained in the provisional figures was Oriade Local Government Area, where Adeleke polled 21,343 votes against Oyebamiji’s 14,863.
In Osogbo, the Accord candidate secured 36,480 votes while the APC recorded 30,474.
Adeleke also won Iwo Local Government Area with 27,085 votes, compared with 19,660 for Oyebamiji.
His largest margin among those results came in Ede South, where he recorded 26,188 votes against the APC candidate’s 6,219.
In Ife East, results cited in the report showed Adeleke with 8,076 votes from the wards examined, ahead of the APC’s 5,201 and ADC’s 234.
The figures strengthened the governor’s early position, although the final governorship result depends on the statutory collation carried out by INEC rather than figures viewed individually on IReV.
Oyinlola, Aregbesola and Omisore lose polling units
The election also produced setbacks for several of Osun State’s most prominent politicians.
Former governor Olagunsoye Oyinlola, who supported Oyebamiji, lost his polling unit in Okuku, Odo-Otin Local Government Area.
At Polling Unit 003, Ward 01, Court Hall 1, Adeleke recorded 125 votes, compared with Oyebamiji’s 85.
Former Osun governor Rauf Aregbesola, a leading figure associated with the ADC, also saw his preferred party lose his polling unit in Ilesa East.
According to the supplied result, APC recorded 256 votes at the unit, Accord scored 43, while ADC received 13.
Aregbesola remains one of the influential figures in Osun politics. New Daily Prime has previously examined his political record and controversies from his years as Osun governor.
Former APC National Secretary Iyiola Omisore also lost his polling unit in Ife East to Adeleke.
Accord secured 131 votes at Omisore’s unit, while the APC recorded 85.
The defeats do not by themselves determine the statewide contest, but they provide an indication of how voters behaved in the immediate political strongholds of some influential figures.
Vote-buying allegations emerge
Reports of alleged vote-buying also surfaced during voting.
The supplied report said money was allegedly distributed to voters in some polling units, with different amounts reported across several locations.
The Centre for Journalism Innovation and Development (CJID) was cited as saying it received reports that some voters were offered as much as N50,000 in parts of Ilesa East. The report also referred to allegations involving security personnel in some areas.
Those allegations should be treated cautiously unless established through investigation by the relevant authorities. No political party should be held responsible for an allegation simply because claims were made during an election.
The supplied material also reported that cash was seized from an alleged party agent in Ejigbo and referred to a video purportedly showing voters confronting an agent carrying bundles of money in Olorunda.
BVAS problems reported at some polling units
There were also complaints about the performance of the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System, known as BVAS, in some areas.
At Deputy Governor Kola Adewusi’s polling unit in Ile-Ife, the device was reported to have malfunctioned and slowed voter accreditation.
Adewusi said the process had been progressing normally before the BVAS began experiencing problems, leaving some people unable to vote promptly.
Former Minister of State for Police Affairs Jelili Adesiyan also complained about slow BVAS accreditation at his polling unit in Ayedaade Local Government Area, saying some registered voters were not being captured by the device.
The election was held on 15 August 2026, following a change from the earlier August 8 timetable. Channels Television reported that the poll was moved to allow INEC additional logistical preparations.
President Bola Tinubu had also previously called on INEC, political parties and security agencies to ensure credible and peaceful elections in Osun and Ekiti. Read New Daily Prime’s report containing Tinubu’s Democracy Day message.
With nearly all polling-unit results recorded in the snapshot covered by this report, attention is now on the remaining results and the formal state collation.
Adeleke may be leading the provisional count, but INEC’s final declaration — not campaign statements, social-media figures or individual IReV uploads — will determine the winner of the 2026 Osun governorship election.
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