The 2026 Osun State governorship election has not only returned Governor Ademola Adeleke to office but also widened the electoral gap between him and the All Progressives Congress (APC) compared with the 2022 contest.

A comparison of the results of the two elections shows that Adeleke increased his vote tally by more than 100,000, added two local government areas to his 2022 total and more than doubled his winning margin over the APC.

However, the governor has widened his electoral advantage, increasing both his vote tally and the number of local government areas won compared with the previous governorship election in 2022.

Based on the results from the 30 local government areas, Adeleke of the Accord Party polled 511,067 votes in the 2026 election, compared with the 403,371 votes he secured as the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the 2022 governorship election.

The latest result represents an increase of 107,696 votes for Adeleke over his 2022 tally.

Adeleke also increased the number of local government areas he won from 17 in 2022 to 19 in 2026, while the APC’s tally fell from 13 LGAs in 2022 to 11 in the latest results.

In 2022, the APC candidate, then incumbent governor Gboyega Oyetola, polled 375,027 votes.

The difference between Adeleke and the APC has also widened significantly. In 2022, Adeleke defeated Oyetola by 28,344 votes, while the figures provided for the 2026 election put Adeleke ahead of Bola Oyebamiji, the APC candidate, by 66,252 votes.

Adeleke more than doubled his winning margin, from about 3.52 percentage points in 2022 to 6.93 percentage points in 2026, based on the combined votes of the two leading candidates.

The 2026 results showed that Adeleke won in Boluwaduro, Ede South, Ife North, Ilesa West, Ifedayo, Ife Central, Orolu, Osogbo, Oriade, Odo-Otin, Ife East, Ifelodun, Iwo, Ede North, Ila, Ayedire, Egbedore, Ayedaade and Ejigbo.

Oyebamiji won in Ilesa East, Irepodun, Boripe, Obokun, Atakumosa West, Irewole, Atakumosa East, Isokan, Ola-Oluwa, Ife South and Olorunda.

Adeleke’s stronger performance in some areas was reflected in the margins recorded in the latest results. In Ede North, he scored 35,427 votes against Oyebamiji’s 10,283, while in Ede South he polled 26,188 votes against 6,219.

In Osogbo, Adeleke recorded 36,480 votes against the APC’s 30,474, while in Ife East he scored 27,201 votes against Oyebamiji’s 18,600.

The APC also retained some of its strongholds. Oyebamiji scored 29,972 votes in Irewole against Adeleke’s 10,934, while he polled 19,963 votes in Boripe against Adeleke’s 12,448.

In 2022, Adeleke’s victory was followed by a legal battle after Oyetola challenged the result. The election petition tribunal initially nullified Adeleke’s victory, but the Court of Appeal overturned the decision, and the Supreme Court subsequently upheld Adeleke’s election in May 2023.

Reacting to his victory, Adeleke after the conclusion of the election described the election as a victory for democracy, saying there should be no victor or vanquished.

He said “I feel great, first of all I thank God Almighty for what has happened. It’s a victory for democracy in Nigeria and a victory for the people of Osun state that stood by me. They said, you have done a lot for us, you have given us dividends of democracy in terms of agriculture, infrastructure, improving our education and so forth, this is Osun people saying thank you.”

The governor expressed appreciation to President Tinubu, who he said had personally called to congratulate him.

“I want to seize the opportunity to thank Mr. President. Mr. President has called me and he has congratulated me. Thank you, Mr. President, for making sure democracy lives on, because you fought for it,” he stated.

He pledged to focus on industrialisation and inclusive development across Osun State, assuring residents that his administration’s development agenda would continue.

Adeleke said his administration remains committed to building an industrialised Osun State where development reaches every part of the state. (Business Day)