Osun 2026: Adeleke Opens Lead as INEC Collates Results
Governor Ademola Adeleke of the Accord Party has taken an early lead in Saturday’s Osun State governorship election as the Independent National Electoral Commission commenced the collation of results from the state’s 30 local government areas.
Provisional figures uploaded to INEC’s Result Viewing Portal showed Adeleke ahead of his closest challenger, the All Progressives Congress candidate, Bola Oyebamiji, in most of the local government areas declared so far. According to results announced at the state collation centre in Osogbo, the Accord Party had polled 287,199 votes from 17 local government areas, maintaining a clear advantage over the APC, which secured 244,838 votes. The African Democratic Congress trailed with 7,970 votes.
INEC had earlier released results from the first eight local government areas, where Adeleke won in seven, with Oyebamiji taking one. In the next batch of eight local government areas, the results were split evenly between the two candidates. By Sunday morning, INEC had uploaded 3,613 of the 3,763 expected results, representing 96 per cent of the total, onto its IReV portal.
The election, which was contested by 15 political parties, recorded significant voter turnout across the state. INEC had announced that 1,906,390 out of 2,339,233 registered voters collected their Permanent Voter Cards and were eligible to vote. Early figures from the collation showed that 361,500 voters were accredited, representing a turnout of approximately 42.8 per cent.
However, the electoral process was marred by widespread reports of violence, vote-buying, and technical failures involving the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System.
Technical challenges with the BVAS devices were reported across several local government areas, causing delays and frustrating voters. The Centre for Journalism Innovation and Development confirmed BVAS failures at polling units in Egbedore, Ife Central, Ilesa West, Ifedayo, Ifelodun, Oriade and Ilesa East local government areas.
The Deputy Governor of Osun State, Kola Adewusi, lamented that BVAS malfunctioned at his polling unit in Ile-Ife, slowing down the voting process and preventing many voters from casting their ballots. A former Minister of State for Police Affairs, Jelili Adesiyan, also complained about the slow performance of the device at his polling unit in Ayedaade Local Government Area, noting that elderly voters were particularly affected.
The European Union Support to Democratic Governance in Nigeria Election Observation Hub reported that 58 out of 726 BVAS devices malfunctioned in the polling units it observed, of which 41 were subsequently fixed. The EU observer hub also identified delayed commencement of voting, challenges with BVAS, and gaps in election logistics as major issues observed during the poll.
Governor Adeleke, who is seeking re-election on the platform of the Accord Party, expressed concern over the BVAS failures, describing them as a source of frustration for voters.
Violent incidents were recorded in several parts of the state, with gunshots, ballot box snatching, and voter intimidation reported across multiple local government areas.
At Salvation Army High School in Osogbo, which served as the Ward 5 collation centre, gunmen trailing a bus carrying INEC ad hoc staff shot into a crowd, leaving a man wounded in the chest. In Ikirun, Ifelodun Local Government Area, gunshots were fired following a disagreement among party agents during a recount of votes, prompting the police to fire tear gas canisters to disperse the crowd.
Suspected political thugs attacked Polling Unit 013 in Ejigbo Local Government Area, where the ADC governorship candidate, Najeem Salaam, had cast his vote. Salaam was reportedly whisked away from the scene by supporters, and journalists covering the event were attacked. The Centre for Democracy and Development also reported that voting was disrupted at Ejigbo Ward 4, Polling Unit 13, where Salaam voted.
In Iree, Boripe Local Government Area, a suspected thug who snatched a ballot box was apprehended by voters and found to be carrying a gun and an axe. There were also reports of armed thugs attempting to snatch a ballot box in Osogbo Local Government Area, though police intervention prevented the incident.
The EU observer hub recorded 38 security incidents across the 726 polling units it monitored, including 25 cases of thuggery, 12 attacks on electoral officials, and nine cases of voter intimidation by security personnel. The hub also documented 323 cases of electoral offences, including 103 cases of vote trading, 85 cases of exposure of ballot papers, 31 cases of obstruction of voters, and 28 cases of inducement of polling and security officials.
Allegations of vote-buying were pervasive across the state, with reports of cash payments to voters ranging from N10,000 to N50,000 per person.
The Centre for Journalism Innovation and Development reported receiving information that N50,000 was given to each voter in some polling units in Ilesa East Local Government Area. The centre also said security personnel were implicated in vote-buying incidents, allegedly receiving cash from a political party in Ayedaade and Ife North local governments.
Sunday PUNCH gathered that one political party sent N5 million to each polling unit, distributing a minimum of N20,000 per voter. The party also allegedly gave between N2 million and N5 million to senior security officers in each local government area.
At a polling unit in Ejigbo Local Government Area, bundles of cash were seized from an agent of a party allegedly buying votes. In Osogbo, voters reportedly confronted a party agent with bundles of cash at a polling unit in Olorunda Local Government Area. Angry youths in Ejigbo chased away suspected vote buyers and seized bags containing wads of naira notes.
The EU observer hub reported 103 cases of vote trading across the polling units it monitored. The Centre for Democracy and Development also raised concerns about vote-buying, with observers noting solicitation of votes around polling stations in Ilesa East and Ola Oluwa local government areas.
The APC, ADC and Accord Party exchanged accusations over the violence and irregularities recorded during the election.
The APC, in a statement by its Director of Media and Information, Kola Olabisi, condemned the snatching of a ballot box in Osogbo, accusing Accord Party thugs of the act. The party urged INEC to take administrative notice of the incident.
The ADC rejected the election, describing it as a sham. In a statement by its campaign organisation spokesperson, Nurein Adebisi, the party alleged that voters were attacked, chased away, and their phones seized to prevent documentation of crimes. The ADC called on INEC to suspend further collation and cancel results from all affected areas.
Governor Adeleke decried what he called “sheer abuse of law enforcement” to intimidate supporters. In a statement by his Chief Press Secretary, Olawale Rasheed, Adeleke condemned the arrest of a party member in his house after he voted, describing it as barbaric and a vicious attack on free will.
The Director General of the Imole Campaign Council, Lere Oyewumi, described the conduct of the election in Irewole Local Government Area as pathetic, alleging that suspected thugs disrupted voting and attacked Accord agents in polling units across the local government.
Several prominent political figures in Osun State suffered defeat in their polling units. Former Governor Olagunsoye Oyinlola, who had shifted his support from Adeleke to Oyebamiji, lost his polling unit in Odo-Otin Local Government Area to Adeleke. Former Governor Rauf Aregbesola, who is the leader of the ADC in the state, also lost his polling unit in Ilesa East Local Government Area to the APC. Former National Secretary of the APC, Iyiola Omisore, lost his polling unit in Ife East Local Government Area to Adeleke.
However, former Governor Bisi Akande won his polling unit in Ila Local Government Area, where the APC secured 181 votes.
Election observer groups have urged political parties and candidates to remain calm and pursue any grievances through lawful and judicial channels. The EU-SDGN Election Observation Hub called on contestants to abstain from vote buying and discourage polling agents and supporters from vote trading at polling units.
The Centre for Democracy and Development said the 2026 Osun governorship election was mostly peaceful despite reports of vote-buying, technical difficulties, and isolated incidents of violence. The centre reported that INEC’s deployment was mostly successful, with 89.1 per cent of observed polling units recording officials arriving before 8:30 a.m..
The Nigeria Civil Society Situation Room raised concerns over delays, BVAS challenges, vote buying and isolated disruptions during the election.
As of Sunday morning, collation of results was ongoing across the state’s 30 local government areas, with INEC expected to continue uploading outstanding results before the returning officer formally declares the winner of the Osun governorship election.