Breaking: Oyebanji Wins Re-Election as Ekiti Governor
Governor Biodun Oyebanji of the All Progressives Congress has been re-elected to a second term in Ekiti State, defeating 13 challengers and becoming the first governor in the state’s history to retain power through immediate re-election.
The Independent National Electoral Commission declared Mr Oyebanji winner in the early hours of Sunday, June 21, 2026, at its headquarters in Ado-Ekiti, following Saturday’s poll across the state’s 16 local government areas. The State Returning Officer, Prof. Adenike Oladiji, Vice-Chancellor of the Federal University of Technology, Akure, announced the results.
According to the figures announced on Form EC8E, Mr Oyebanji polled 319,224 votes to defeat his closest rival, Wole Oluyede of the Peoples Democratic Party, who scored 40,543 votes. The African Democratic Congress candidate, Oluwadare Bejide, came third with 12,872 votes, while Accord Party’s Opeyemi Falegan placed fourth with 564 votes.
The governor swept all 16 local government areas, consolidating a statewide dominance across both urban and rural blocs. In Ado-Ekiti, the largest voting centre, he polled 38,026 votes against the PDP’s 3,817. Even in Ikere, home of the PDP candidate, where the party recorded its strongest showing of 9,892 votes, Mr Oyebanji still won with 11,116 votes.
INEC said 384,940 voters were accredited from 988,251 registered voters. Of the 382,109 votes cast, valid votes totalled 375,777, while 6,332 ballots were rejected. The election was conducted across 2,445 polling units under heavy security deployment.
Declaring the result, Prof. Oladiji said: “That Biodun Abayomi Oyebanji of the APC, having satisfied the requirements of the law and scored the highest number of votes, is hereby declared the winner and is returned elected.”
The breakdown for other parties showed ADP with 1,269 votes, AAC 195, SDP 179, PRP 163, Action Alliance 126, ZLP 113, YPP 98, APP 61, APM 59 and NNPP 35.
The outcome stands out against Ekiti’s electoral history. Since 1999, governorship elections in the state have frequently produced leadership changes, making it one of Nigeria’s most competitive political battlegrounds. Although former Governor Kayode Fayemi won a second term in 2018, he did so after leaving office and returning through a fresh electoral cycle rather than through immediate re-election as a sitting governor. The state’s first civilian governor in the Fourth Republic, Niyi Adebayo, served only one term.
The off-cycle poll was widely watched as a barometer of the APC’s strength in the South-West ahead of the 2027 general elections. Mr Oyebanji campaigned largely on continuity, highlighting first-term achievements in infrastructure, education, healthcare, agriculture and investment promotion. Before the vote, President Bola Tinubu and the governor appealed for peace and orderly conduct.
The campaign was not without controversy. The ADC candidate alleged that his driver was assaulted at a polling unit, while opposition parties raised concerns over vote-buying. Mr Oyebanji dismissed the allegations and urged accusers to provide evidence. Attention is now expected to shift to possible opposition reactions and preparations for the governor’s second-term inauguration.