APC Officials Miss Final Results as Adeleke Wins Osun Election

Officials and agents of the All Progressives Congress (APC) did not show up at the final collation of results for the Osun governorship election. This happened at the INEC headquarters in Osogbo, the capital of Osun State, on Sunday morning. Their absence suggests that the party knew it had lost the election and did not care about the final results.

The election held on Saturday started in some polling units as early as 8 a.m. Voting continued until 6 p.m. in some areas, while in others, it extended to 7 p.m.

Reporters from PREMIUM TIMES who covered the election across the 30 local government areas in the state noted that party agents, including those from the APC, were present at polling units and local government collation centres. There, results were gathered before being sent to the INEC office in Osun for the final collation.

But when INEC began announcing the final results at its headquarters in Osogbo, no APC agents were there. Agents from other political parties were present.

The absence of APC officials likely relates to their assessment of the election outcome, which seemed unfavorable for their candidate, Bola Oyebamiji. The party has not provided any official reason for not attending.

By 6 a.m., the results announcement had wrapped up. Ademola Adeleke of the Accord Party was in the lead with over 60,000 votes after results from all 30 local governments in the state were announced.

Supporters of Mr. Adeleke were seen celebrating outside the INEC office. Inside the hall, the deputy governor, Kola Adewusi, was watching the collation process.

As of the time of this report, the returning officer for the election, Joshua Ogunwole, had not formally declared Mr. Adeleke the winner.