•Defeats Oyebamiji, 10 APC govs, who came to campaign for him

• Aregbesola, Oyinlola lose polling units

• APC’s candidate hails large turnout of voters

Dike Onwuamaeze, Sunday Ehigiator in Lagos and Yinka Kolawole in Osogbo

Governor Ademola Adeleke of Osun State was comfortably leading his opponents in yesterday’s governorship election held in the state as the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) commenced the collation of the results of the poll.

As at 2.06a.m. this morning, INEC had uploaded the results of the election in 3,612 polling units (PUs), representing 95.99 per cent of the 3,763 PUs in the state to the commission’s Result Viewing Portal (IReV).

With only 151 PUs remaining, Adeleke, who is the candidate of the Accord Party (AP), polled 509,057 or 51.7per cent of the votes uploaded on IReV, leading the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Munirudeen Bola Oyebamiji, with over 80,000 votes.

The APC candidate got 425,879 votes, representing 43.2per cent of the votes uploaded to IReV.   

The candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Najeem Salaam, scored 1.8 per cent with 17,393 votes.

According to the results uploaded to IReV, Adeleke was leading in 21 Local Government Areas (LGAs), while Oyebamiji was leading in the remaining nine LGAs.

Adeleke defeated Oyebamiji and about 10 APC governors, who campaigned for him.

Senate President, Senator Godswill Akpabio and the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Tajudeen Abbas, also campaigned for the APC candidate.

Some of the governors who campaigned for him include: Senator Hope Uzodimma of Imo State, Senator Monday Okpebholo of Edo State; Usman Ododo of Kogi State, AbdulRahman AbdulRasaq of Kwara State, Babajide Sanwo-Olu of Lagos State, Biodun Oyebanji of Ekiti State, Dapo Abiodun of Ogun State, Mai Mala Buni of Yobe State and Lucky Aiyedatiwa.

The Delta State governor was represented by his deputy, Monday Onyeme.

INEC had disclosed that 207 of the 3,763 polling units in the state experienced ‘minor’ delays in opening for yesterday’s governorship election.

The governorship election held across the 30 LGAs in the state, was a two-horse race between the incumbent Governor Adeleke and the candidate of the APC, Oyebamiji, although other candidates were also in the race. Although the election was not bloody despite the tension it generated, there were pockets of violence, alleged cases of vote-buying, sporadic shootings and intimidation of voters. 

Meanwhile, a former governor of the state and the National Secretary of the ADC, Mr. Rauf Aregbesola, and a former deputy governor of the state and ex-National Secretary of the APC, Senator Iyiola Omisore, lost their polling units to APC, and Accord Party, respectively.

Accord Party polled 131 votes at Omisore’s PU 003, Ife Ward 1, Moore, St. Gabriel Primary School, Ife East LGA.  

APC finished second with 85 votes, while ADC got 10 votes. Other parties recorded marginal votes.

Similarly, at Aregbesola’s PU001, Cooperative Building Junction, Isare, Ward 08, Ilesa East LGA, where Aregbesola voted, the APC’s governorship candidate, Oyebamiji, secured 256 votes to come top there.

Governor Adeleke came second with 43 votes, while ADC’s candidate, Najeem Salaam, came third with 13 votes.

Before the commission began the results collation, it had stopped the uploading the results to its IReV after it had uploaded the results of 3,292 polling units (PUs) out of the 3,763PUs in the state, representing 87.48 per cent of the results.

This had fuelled an allegation by Adeleke’s Imole Campaign Council (ICC), which raised the alarm that there was an alleged plot by lNEC to declare the governorship election inconclusive.

Afrobeats star, David Adeleke, popularly known as Davido, also questioned INEC over the delay in uploading results of its IReV.

Davido, who was closely monitoring the election process, raised the concern in a post on his X account, saying: “INEC IREV uploads have been stuck for almost 2 hours now. 3292 out of 3763 results submitted and then silence. This is not acceptable!

“Why has the uploading stopped? @inecnigeria”

However, the commission resumed the uploading of the results to IReV after several hours.

207 Polling Units Experienced Delays, Says INEC

INEC had earlier confirmed that 207 of the 3,763 polling units in the state experienced ‘minor’ delays in opening for the election.

According to an election situation report shared by the commission on its official X handle, 3,556 polling units, representing 94.5 per cent of the total, had opened by 8:30am.

INEC said the remaining 207 polling units, representing 5.5 per cent, were delayed but became operational by 9:00am.

“3,556 of 3,763 Polling Units (94.5%) had opened,” the commission stated.

APC’s Oyebamiji Hails Large Turnout of Voters

Meanwhile, the governorship candidate of the APC, Oyebamiji, described the large turnout of voters in Ikire, his hometown, as a sign that residents were not intimidated during the election.

Oyebamiji made the remarks after casting his vote at Open Space Gantry, Sawmill, Ward 009, Polling Unit 011, in Ikire, Irewole LGA.

Speaking shortly after voting, the APC candidate commended the presence of voters, electoral officials and security personnel at the polling unit, saying the development indicated that the exercise was progressing smoothly.

“INEC are here, the voters are here, security operatives are here; I want to commend the large turnout of voters in Ikire. It shows that people are not intimidated, and generally, things are going on fine across the state,” he said.

Oyebamiji, however, urged security agencies to remain proactive amid concerns about possible violence in Ikire later in the day.

“I want to admonish the police and other security operatives to be proactive to ensure security for our people and all the voters, and I believe the election would be credible,” he said.

The APC candidate also expressed confidence in his chances of winning the election.

“I am confident that I’d win this election at the end of the day,” he said.

 Adeleke’s Camp Alleges 52 Arrests, Attacks on Accord Party Supporters

As the election was ongoing, the Director-General of the Imole Campaign Council, Senator Lere Oyewumi, alleged that 52 people were arrested at the residence of the lawmaker representing Irewole/Isokan State Constituency, Ibrahim Inaolaji, in Ikire, Osun State.

Oyewumi made the allegation while speaking with journalists at his polling unit, Unit 9, St Peter and Paul/Sumoye Primary School, Ikire, during the election.

He described the alleged arrests as intimidation, claiming that about 24 police officers stormed the lawmaker’s residence in the early hours of yesterday, damaged the gate and arrested people who gathered there.

According to Oyewumi, those arrested included family members, supporters and the Accord Party chairman in the local government.

He also alleged that the Accord Party chairman in Ward 6 and a prominent youth leader were arrested in separate incidents days before the election.

Oyewumi claimed the arrests were aimed at preventing party members and supporters from participating in the election, alleging that those arrested were being held in Osogbo.

The campaign DG further alleged that suspected thugs attacked Accord Party agents and voters at some polling units in Ikire after voting began.

He said he had contacted the police and the military authorities over the alleged incidents, expressing concern over what he described as the failure of security personnel to prevent the attacks.

The allegations had not been independently verified at the time of filing this report.

Sporadic Shooting Forces Residents to Flee Collation Centre

Meanwhile, there was sporadic shooting last night at the premises of Union Baptist Primary School, where the Ataoja D Ward 4 collation centre is located in Osogbo, Osun State.

The gunshots, reportedly fired by security personnel, were heard between 9.15pm and 9.30pm, causing residents and other people around the area to flee for safety.

It was not immediately clear what triggered the shooting.

The shooting persisted for more than 15 minutes, with many people close to the collation centre running for cover.

ADC Candidate Raises the Alarm over Agent Exclusion, Denies Vote-buying

Meanwhile, the ADC governorship candidate, Salaam, has raised concerns over the alleged non-recognition of his party agents in several areas across the state during the election.

Salaam, who arrived at his polling unit to vote at 10:39 a.m., said he received reports that ADC agents were not being recognised despite the party uploading their names ahead of the election.

He said the alleged non-recognition of party agents occurred in 10 LGAs, prompting him to report the matter to relevant authorities, who, he said, were looking into it.

Salaam also denied allegations of vote buying by the ADC, insisting that the party was focused on presenting its programmes and allowing voters to freely choose their preferred candidate.

The candidate, who voted at Ward 4, expressed confidence that he would emerge victorious, attributing his optimism to his faith in God and the voters’ support.