By Nchetachi Chukwuajah
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has presented the Certificate of Return to the Governor of Osun State, Ademola Adeleke, following his victory in the August 15 governorship election.
The Special Assistant on Digital Media to the Governor, Olalekan Badmus, disclosed this in a post on X on Wednesday, August 19.
“Governor Ademola Adeleke receives Certificate of Return from @inecnigeria as the winner of the August 15th, 2026, gubernatorial election in Osun,” Badmus posted.
The Certificate of Return was presented to Adeleke by INEC Resident Electoral Commissioner for Osun State, Mrs Oluwatoyin Babalola, on Wednesday, shortly after the Deputy Governor, Prince Kola Adewusi, was presented with his Certificate of Return at the INEC headquarters in Osogbo.
Babalola thanked the stakeholders in the election for making sure that the election was successful, especially the security agencies, NGOs, the media, and the traditional leaders in the state.
She commended people’s participation in the election and said the polls made a good showing of 43.2% voters’ participation. She congratulated the governor and urged him to be magnanimous in victory.
The INEC national supervising commissioner for Osun State, Prof. Kunle Ajayi, who handed the certificate to the governor, said, “Today is a significant day for democracy and the people of Osun.”
The presentation of the Certificate of Return by INEC formally validates Adeleke’s re-election mandate for a second term.
The presentation of the certificate follows the announcement of Adeleke as the winner of Saturday’s election, having won 19 out of the 30 Local Government Areas in the governorship election held across the state.
Adeleke, who contested the poll on the platform of the Accord Party, defeated his closest challenger, Bola Oyebamiji of the All Progressives Congress (APC), who won in 11 LGAs of the state.
The State Returning Officer, the Vice-Chancellor of the Federal University, Oye Ekiti, Professor Joshua Ogunwole, announced that Adeleke polled a total of 511,067 votes to emerge victorious in the contest.
Adeleke won with a margin of 66,252 votes over Oyebamiji, who polled 444,815 votes, while Najeem Salaam of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) came a distant third with 17,180 votes.
