FILE: Governor Ademola Adeleke and APC governorship candidate, Bola Oyebamiji

Osun State Governor, Ademola Adeleke, has thanked President Bola Tinubu for his role in the August 15 governorship election, saying he expects his closest challenger, Bola Oyebamiji, to call and congratulate him.

Adeleke spoke in a video posted by News Central on Sunday shortly after the Independent National Electoral Commission declared him the winner of the election.

Responding to a question on whether he would extend an olive branch to his co-contestants, Adeleke said there was no victor or vanquished in the election.

“Yes. This is no victor, no vanquished. I want them to come over. I am expecting Oyebamiji to even, as a civilised person, to call me and congratulate me,” he said.

Adeleke also thanked Tinubu, who, according to the governor, had called to congratulate him on his victory.

“And of course, I want to seize this opportunity to thank Mr. President. Mr. President has called me and he has congratulated me. And I thank you, Mr. President, for making sure democracy lives on, because you fought for it, Mr. President,” he said.

FILE: President Bola Tinubu

Adeleke was declared the winner of the election at about 7:24 am on Sunday by the State Returning Officer, Prof. Joshua Ogunwole, the Vice-Chancellor of the Federal University, Oye-Ekiti.

The Accord Party candidate polled 511,067 votes to defeat Oyebamiji of the All Progressives Congress, who scored 444,815 votes.

Adeleke won 19 of the state’s 30 local government areas, while Oyebamiji won 11. The African Democratic Congress candidate, Najeem Salam, came third with 17,180 votes.

The result secured Adeleke a second term in office after he was elected governor in 2022 on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party before moving to the Accord Party for the 2026 election.

Asked whether he had feared that his victory might not materialise, Adeleke attributed his confidence to his faith.

“No, no, no. You know, I have an answer to that. I have a God who never fails. I have a God who never fails. I have a God who never fails. He never fails. Jesus never fails forevermore,” he said.