*PDP wins 17 LGAs, APC 13*Akande loses LGA, Aregbesola boycotts poll, travels abroad
*Vote-buying: Codes, coupons used to get voters’ commitment in poll, say CSOs
Deji Elumoye, Chuks Okocha and Yinka Kolawole in Osogbo
The governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Osun State, Senator Ademola Adeleke, has defeated the incumbent, Governor Gboyega Oyetola of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the governorship election held yesterday.
Oyetola was backed by the presidential candidate of the APC, Senator Bola Tinubu.
The results were announced by the Collation and Electoral Officers of each of the 30 LGAs with the approval of the Returning Officer for the 2022 Governorship Election and Vice Chancellor of the University of Lagos, Prof. Oluwatoyin Ogundipe. Adeleke won in 17 LGAs while Oyetola won in 13 LGAs
Adeleke polled 403,371 votes to defeat Oyetola, who polled 375, 018 votes.
A breakdown of votes in each of the LGAs shows that PDP got 7,750 votes in Atakumosa West, while APC scored 6,601.
In Ede North, Adeleke scored 23,931 votes to defeat Oyetola who polled 9,603 votes.
Adeleke also won in Obokun LGA with 13,575 votes, while Oyetola scored 9,727 votes.
In Ife North, Adeleke won with 10, 359 votes while Oyetola scored 9, 964 votes.
Adeleke also won in Ejigbo LGA where he scored 18, 065 votes while Oyetola got 14, 355 votes.
The PDP candidate also won in Orolu with 10,282 votes while APC got 9,928 votes.
Adeleke scored 13,230 votes in Egbedore LGA to win Oyetola, who scored 9,228 votes.
In Ilesa West, Adeleke won with 13,769 votes, while Oyetola scored 10,777 votes.
However, the Polling Officer in one of the units in the LGA was attacked and hospitalised.
In Oriade LGA, Adeleke scored 15,947 votes while Oyetola came second with 14,189 votes.
Adeleke polled 5,860 votes in Boluwaduro, while Oyetola scored 5,649 votes
To win Olorunda LGA, Adeleke polled 21, 350 votes while Oyetola was able to secure 18,709 votes.
In Ede South, Adeleke who is popularly known as the ‘dancing senator’ picked up 19,438 votes while the incumbent governor had 5,704.
Adeleke polled 10,282 to win Orolu LGA where Oyetola secured 9928 votes.
The PDP candidate also won in Chief Bisi Akande’s Ila LGA with 13,036 votes, while Oyetola scored 11,163 votes.
In Osogbo, the PDP candidate polled 30,401 votes — well ahead of the APC flag bearer who secured 22,952 votes.
Odo-Otin LGA also went the way of the PDP as Adeleke got 14,003 votes while Oyetola picked up 13,482. Some hoodlums invaded one of the polling units and went away with a ballot box. The police went after them and recovered the ballot box and arrested the hoodlums.
To win Ifelodun LGA, the PDP candidate picked up 17,107 votes while Oyetola placed second with 16,068 votes.
Adeleke also won Irepodun LGA with 14,369 votes while the APC candidate got 12,122.
Iwo LGA however went the way of the Osun governor who picked 17, 421 votes compared to the 16,914 secured by Adeleke.
Polling 14,527 in Ayedaade LGA, the incumbent governor also beat Adeleke who had 13,380 votes.
In Boripe LGA, Oyetola also emerged victorious, polling 21,205 votes to defeat the PDP candidate who had 7,595.
Oyetola won Isokan LGA by a slim margin, securing 10,833 votes while Adeleke got 10,777.
The Osun State governor also scored 9, 123 votes in Ola Oluwa LGA to lead Adeleke who polled 7, 205 votes.
In Ife South, Oyetola scored 12, 481 votes, while Adeleke got 9,116 votes.
Oyetola also won in Ilesa East LGA with 13,452 votes, while Adeleke scored 10,969 votes
The incumbent governor also won in Ayedire with 7, 868 votes while Adeleke scored 7, 402 votes.
In Ife Central, Oyetola defeated Adeleke with 17,880 votes while the PDP got 13,532 votes.
Oyetola also defeated Adeleke in Ifedayo LGA with 5,016 votes while the PDP candidate scored 4,730 votes.
In Atakunmosa East, Oyetola scored 7,449 votes while Adeleke scored 6, 992.
However, votes in Ward 07 and Ward 08 in Ilesa East were cancelled as hoodlums disrupted the voting process and carted away ballot boxes.
In Ife Central, Oyetola scored 17, 880 votes to defeat Adeleke who scored 13, 532.
Oyetola also scored 18, 189 votes to win in Irewole LGA while Adeleke got 14, 216 votes.
The governorship poll did not end without drama, as the Minister of Interior and former Governor of Osun State, Aregbesola, did not vote during the poll.
While the pioneer Chairman of the APC, Chief Bisi Akande lost his Ila LGA to the PDP, Aregbesola boycotted the governorship election and travelled out of the country.
However, the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), said its operatives on election monitoring duties arrested three persons suspected of vote buying in the gubernatorial election.
Aregbesola, it was gathered travelled abroad on an official engagement.
The minister has been at loggerheads with Oyetola.
The APC in Osun currently has two factions — one loyal to Aregbesola while the other supports Oyetola.
The minister had backed Moshood Adeoti, a former Secretary to the State Government (SSG), for the APC governorship ticket but Oyetola won the primary.
Aregbesola had subsequently described the primary as a “sham of an election” after his preferred candidate lost.
The minister was also not present during the APC mega rally in Osun on Tuesday, which was attended by Tinubu, the party’s presidential candidate, as well as governors and other party stakeholders.
Residents, who spoke to THISDAY in Ifofin, Ilesha area, where Aregbesola was expected to cast his vote, said it was “unlike the minister” who always arrives in his hometown on the eve of an election.
“By now, everywhere will be bubbling with activities because Aregbe would have entered since Friday,” a resident said.
“He is so loved here and he has tried his best for his people. I don’t know why he’s not around this time like he’s always done.”
Codes, Coupons Used to Get Voters’ Commitment in Poll, Say CSOs
Meanwhile, the Nigeria Civil Society Situation Room said codes and coupons were used to extract commitments from voters in the governorship election, as opposed to the blatant money exchanging hands in the Ekiti State election.
The Coalition of Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) made this known in its Second Preliminary Statement on the Osun governorship election.
The convener of the CSOs, Ene Obi, said while the group was observing the election, it observed another means of vote trading.
She added that vote trading was recorded in most of the areas observed, particularly outside Osogbo.
“Knowledge of voting procedures and civic education of voters was very poor.
“Voting cubicles in many of the polling units were not positioned to ensure secrecy of the ballots, making it possible for voters to flash their votes to other people.
“There was open negotiation of buying and selling of votes well-coordinated by the polling agents in many of the polling units.
“There were no complaints from any of them against each other.
“Codes and coupons were used to extract commitments from voters as opposed to the blatant money exchanging hands observed in the Ekiti State governorship election.”
Obi, however, commended the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), saying the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) machines functioned credibly well.
She said that so far, commendably, Osun had witnessed a high rate of Permanent Voters Card collection, recording a total of 1,518,303 as reported by INEC.
Obi said that voting started peacefully, not showing any indications of the apprehension that had trailed the days preceding the election.
She said that Situation Room received reports from its network of observers of the early arrival of materials and INEC officials in most of the polling units which led to the early commencement of voting.
“The BVAS were deployed according to the number of registered voters.
“In polling units with over 1,000 voters, INEC kept to its promise to deploy two BVAS machines. The machines functioned credibly well.
“There were issues with the fingerprint verifications, however, the facial capture worked very well recording approximately one minute for accreditation and voting in Osogbo and outside areas, it took longer.”
ICPC Arrests Suspected Vote Buyers
The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), said its operatives on election monitoring duties arrested three persons suspected of vote buying in the Osun gubernatorial election.
The spokesperson for ICPC, Mrs Azuka Ogugua, made this known in a statement in Abuja.
She said one Dapo Olayode was arrested by the commission’s teams at Ife North and Central Local Government Councils, Osun East Senatorial District, precisely at Polling Unit 7, Iremo Ward IV.
According to the statement, Olayode was arrested with a list containing the names of voters while an Android phone was also collected from him.
“At Egbedore Local Government, Osun West Senatorial District, precisely in Polling Unit 003, Ward 10, Osunbukola Junction, Kamorudeen Nafisat, a female and Ojuade Musbau Olaniyi, a male were arrested by another team for alleged vote buying.
“Items collected from the duo included one Android Phone and a notebook containing a list of names of voters.
“A third team was attacked by a popular thug and his gang while attempting to effect the arrest of a vote buyer.
“The attack was at Polling Unit 1, Ward 7, opposite Polaris Bank, in front of Oba’s Palace, Esa-Oke, Obokun Local Government Area,” Ogugua said.
She explained that the suspected vote buyer was also caught with a list containing names of 100 people expecting to be paid N5,000 each.
Ogugua said its team leader sustained a serious injury in the fracas that ensued, but the team was able to retrieve the book containing the list of 100 voters.
“The statements of all the suspects are being taken under caution, and investigations are still ongoing,” she stated.
