Politics: Review Of Osun State Governorship Election
The Osun Governorship election was filled with shock, awe and ecstasy with Adeleke winning a landslide victory over the incumbent governor Oyetola, scoring over 30,000 votes, the election was referred to one of the most free and fair election.
The last off cycle governorship election before the 2023 general elections was held last Saturday, July 16, 2022 in Osun State. The outcome was an upset for the ruling All Progressives Congress which had hoped to consolidate its hold on the agrarian state. However, the day after the poll, the Independent National Electoral Commission declared the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, Senator Ademola Adeleke, winner of the election. The Returning Officer for the poll and Vice Chancellor of the University of Lagos, Prof Oluwatoyin Ogundipe, announced that Adeleke got a total of 403,371 votes, beating the incumbent, Adegboyega Oyetola of the APC who got 375,027 votes in a keenly contested race.
Osun State joined the league of states with off season governorship election on November 26, 2010 when former Governor Rauf Aregbesola of the then Action Congress of Nigeria was able to prove electoral violence and malpractices in 10 out of the 30 local government areas of the state during the 2007 governorship election. In a judgment which was read for five hours, Justice Clara Ogunbiyi, then of the Court of Appeal sitting in Ibadan, nullified the election in Boripe, Atakumosa, Ayedaade, Boluwaduro, Ife Central, Ife East, Ife South, Ifedayo, Isokan and Odo Otin LGAs. The court resolved that Aregbesola won the election by 198,799 votes against 172,880 lawfully ascribed to former Governor Olagunsoye Oyinlola. Since then, Osun joined states like Anambra, Kogi, Bayelsa, Edo, Ondo, and Ekiti to have off-cycle governorship elections.
