How Adeleke Went from Losing by 482 Votes to Winning in 2022

As Osun State prepares for Saturday’s governorship election, Governor Ademola Adeleke’s journey has been full of ups and downs. His path includes a narrow defeat, a rerun loss, a legal fight, and a strong comeback.

Adeleke, who ran as the Accord Party candidate, first entered the Osun governorship race in 2018 under the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). The election was a close contest between Adeleke and Gboyega Oyetola from the All Progressives Congress (APC).

Initially, Adeleke received 254,698 votes, while Oyetola got 254,345 votes. This gave Adeleke a slim lead of just 353 votes. But the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) later declared the election inconclusive. They cancelled 3,498 votes from some polling units in Ife North, Ife South, and Orolu Local Government Areas.

Prof Joseph Fuwape, the Returning Officer, explained the decision. He said the margin of votes between the two candidates was smaller than the number of cancelled votes. Fuwape stated, “Since the margin between the two leading candidates was lower than the registered cancelled votes, the election had to be declared inconclusive.” INEC then announced a rerun in seven polling units.

The rerun that changed everything
The rerun took place across four local government areas on September 27, 2018. Oyetola won this rerun with 1,160 votes while Adeleke managed to get just 325 votes. These extra votes turned the tide against Adeleke. Oyetola was declared the governor-elect with a final tally of 255,505 votes to Adeleke’s 255,023. The difference was only 482 votes.

Adeleke rejected the result and vowed to challenge it.
Adeleke, through his brother Dele Adeleke, made it clear that the PDP would seek legal action. He said, “Adeleke’s mandate can’t be stolen, it will be retrieved. The wish of the people will stand at the end.” Despite this setback, Adeleke did not give up on his ambition to be governor.

Four years later, Adeleke returned
In 2022, Adeleke rejoined the race, facing Oyetola, who was the sitting governor at that time. This election had a different outcome. In the July 16, 2022 governorship election, Adeleke won with 403,371 votes against Oyetola’s 375,027 votes. Adeleke claimed victory in 17 of the state’s 30 local government areas, while Oyetola won in 13.

This time, Adeleke had a margin of 28,344 votes. This was a big difference from the 482 votes that separated them four years earlier. Prof Oluwatoyin Ogundipe, the Returning Officer, declared, “I declare Adeleke Ademola Jackson Nurudeen, on behalf of the chairman of INEC, of the PDP, having satisfied the requirement of the law, is hereby declared the winner and he is returned elected.” Adeleke was sworn in as governor on November 27, 2022.

The battle was not over
Oyetola and the APC challenged Adeleke’s win at the Election Petitions Tribunal, claiming there were irregularities in how the election was run. This legal battle took several months. In January 2023, the tribunal annulled Adeleke’s victory, saying some votes were affected by over-voting and declared Oyetola the winner based on their new calculations.

Adeleke disagreed with the judgment, calling it a “miscarriage of justice”. He said the tribunal’s decision was an “unfair interpretation against the will of the majority of voters.” He then appealed the ruling.

Appeal Court restores Adeleke
Later, the Court of Appeal reversed the tribunal's decision and reinstated Adeleke as governor. Oyetola then took the case to the Supreme Court. In March 2023, the Supreme Court confirmed Adeleke’s victory, ending the legal struggle over the 2022 Osun governorship election. Now, as the state gears up for Saturday’s election, Adeleke is again seeking a term as the Accord candidate, facing competition from APC’s Bola Oyebamiji and others.