Osun State Governor, Ademola Adeleke, has expressed appreciation to President Bola Tinubu for his role in the August 15 governorship election, following his declaration as winner of the poll.
Adeleke also appealed to his closest challenger, the All Progressives Congress candidate, Bola Oyebamiji, to accept the outcome and congratulate him.
The governor made the remarks in a video shared by News Central on Sunday, shortly after the Independent National Electoral Commission declared him the winner.
Adeleke said the election should not be viewed as a contest that produced a winner and a loser, stressing the need for all the candidates to work together after the poll.
He said, “This is no victor, no vanquished. I want them to come over. I am expecting Oyebamiji, even as a civilised person, to call me and congratulate me.”
The governor also thanked Tinubu, whom he said had personally contacted him to congratulate him on his victory.
Adeleke said, “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.”
The governor was declared winner at about 7:24am on Sunday by the State Returning Officer, Prof. Joshua Ogunwole, Vice-Chancellor of the Federal University, Oye-Ekiti.
Adeleke, who contested on the platform of the Accord Party, polled 511,067 votes to defeat Oyebamiji, who secured 444,815 votes.
The governor won in 19 of the state’s 30 local government areas, while the APC candidate carried 11. The African Democratic Congress candidate, Najeem Salam, finished third with 17,180 votes.
The victory gives Adeleke a second term as governor, having won the 2022 governorship election on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party before defecting to the Accord Party ahead of the 2026 poll.
Asked if he had been worried that he might lose the election, Adeleke attributed his confidence to his faith.
He said, “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. He never fails. Jesus never fails forevermore.”
