- Oyinlola, Akinbade lose at home
The Saturday governorship election in Osun State was a test of might among politicians in the state, as political gladiators used the poll to settle long term scores and open fresh wounds. Prior to the election, many have described it as a four-man horse race, but the election seems to have been keenly contested between the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate, Alhaji Gboyega Oyetola and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate, Senator Ademola Adeleke.
Though the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) declared the election inconclusive due to cancellation of votes in seven polling units in four local governments, Adeleke (PDP), who won in 11 local governments, is leading with 254,698 votes, closely followed by Oyetola (APC), who had 254,345 votes and won in 16 local governments. The candidate of the Social Democratic Party (SDP), Senator Iyiola Omisore, also performed creditably in the election, scoring 128,049 votes to win two local governments, while the Action Democratic Party (ADP), Moshood Adeoti, scored 49,742 votes and won in only one local government. Considering that the leading four candidates came from the three senatorial districts of the state, many have thought that the electorate will vote along senatorial district lines, but the results of the elections show clearly that the governorship poll was a test of might among the candidates. Adeleke hails from Ede in Osun West Senatorial District while Adeoti hails from Iwo in the same senatorial district.
Oyetola is from Iragbiji in Osun Central Senatorial District, while Omisore is from Ife in Osun East Senatorial District. According to the results released by INEC, Adeleke, who is currently representing Osun West Senatorial District, won in Atakumosa West, Ifedayo, Ede South, Obokun, Oriade, Irepodun, Isokan, Ede North, Ifelodun, Orolu and Irewole local government areas.
Adeleke, who is from Ede, defeated his major opponents in Ede North and Ede South, where he polled 18,745 and 16,693 votes respectively as against 4,512 and 7,025 votes polled by his opponents in the two local governments respectively. He also polled 5,401 in Atakumosa West Local Government Area as against 5,019 votes the APC candidate got in the council. In Ifedayo, Oyetola was unable to deliver the area to the ruling party as PDP scored 3,374 while APC got 3,182 votes. Adeleke scored 10,109 in Oriade Local Government Area, while APC had 9,718.
This is the local government of Hon. Wole Oke, the member of the House of Representatives, representing the area in the Green Chamber. In Isokan, PDP polled 9,048 while APC had 7,297. It was also the same situation in Ifelodun Local Government Area as PDP polled 12,269 to beat APC, which scored 9,882. PDP also won in Irewole local council with 13,848 as against APC’s 10,049. Adeleke won with a wide margin in Obokun Local Government Area with 10,859 votes as against 7,229 polled by the APC candidate, Oyetola.
Oyetola, the immediate past Chief of Staff to Governor Rauf Aregbesola, won in Boluwaduro, Ilesa West, Boripe, Ila Orangun, Odo-Otin, Ayedaade, Atamokunsa East, Ayedire, Ejigbo, Egbedore, Olorunda, Ola-Oluwa and Ife South and he is leading with a wide margin in Osogbo, pending the conclusion of the governorship election on Thursday.
The APC candidate had a good outing in Osogbo and Olorunda local government areas by defeating PDP with a wide margin. APC had 16,254 votes in Olorunda to beat PDP, which had 9,850 votes, to a second position. In Osogbo, pending the re-run election of the one polling unit in the council, which was cancelled after last Saturday’s election by INEC, Oyetola is leading with 23,379 votes while Adeleke has 14,449 votes to his credit. Oyetola, in his local government, Boripe, scored 11,655 votes while PDP had 6,892 votes. In Ilesa East, Governor Aregesola’s local government, APC won with 9,790, but this was not enough to give the party a wide margin in the council as PDP was able to poll 8,244 votes. Oyetola won in Boluwaduro with 3,843 votes while PDP had 3,779 votes. He also won in Ife South and Ife North with 7,223 and 6,957 respectively, while Omisore came second with 6,151 in Ife South.
PDP came second in Ife North with 5,486 votes. In Ilesa West, APC polled 8,286 while PDP had 7,251. In Ila Orangun, which is the local government of the former Interim National Chairman of APC, Chief Bisi Akande, the party won with less than 200 votes as Oyetola scored 8,403 as against PDP’s 8,241. The leader of African Democratic Congress (ADC) and former governor of Osun State, Prince Olagunsoye Oyinlola, could not deliver his local government, Odo-Otin, for his governorship candidate, Alhaji Fatai Akinbade, as APC’s candidate, Oyetola, polled 9,996 while Adeleke was closer with 9,879 votes. In Ayedaade, APC won with 10,861, while PDP had 9,836. For Atakunmosa East, APC polled 7,073 while PDP had 5,218 votes.
It was a tight situation for APC in Ayedire Local Government Area as it narrowly won with 5,474 against 5,133 polled by PDP. Oyetola had a clear victory in Ejigbo Local Government Area where the Speaker of Osun State House of Assembly, Hon. Najeem Salaam, comes from. He had 14,779 votes while Adeleke had 11,116. APC also won with a narrow margin in Egbedore by polling 7,354 votes to defeat PDP, which had 7,231 votes. In Ola-Oluwa, the ADC governorship candidate, Akinbade, lost his local government to Oyetola, who polled 5,025 while Adeleke had 4,026. Akinbade was able to score 1,408 in the council.
Omisore proved his worth in Ife Central where he won with 20,494 to defeat Oyetola who had 6,957 votes. He also had block votes in Ife East, scoring 17,643. Adeoti won with a wide margin in Iwo Local Government Area by polling 16,425 votes to beat Oyetola, who came second with 7,644 votes.
