By Adesakin Adefemi
Ekiti State Governor Biodun Oyebanji has extended an olive branch to his main rivals after winning re-election in Saturday’s governorship poll, even as the ADC and PDP rejected the outcome and alleged irregularities.
Oyebanji, who contested on the APC platform, polled 319,224 votes across all 16 local government areas to defeat Wole Oluyede of the PDP with 40,533 votes and Amb. Dare Bejide of the ADC with 12,872 votes. The Returning Officer, Prof. Adenike Oladiji, announced the result Sunday morning at the collation centre in Ado-Ekiti.
President Bola Tinubu called Oyebanji shortly after the declaration to congratulate him. In a statement by his Special Adviser Bayo Onanuga, Tinubu urged the governor to remain magnanimous in victory and carry all Ekiti people along as he consolidates on his first-term achievements.
The President praised Ekiti voters for a peaceful and orderly process and commended security agencies for maintaining law and order. He noted that Oyebanji became the first governor in Ekiti’s history to win re-election back-to-back since 1999, calling it a vote of confidence in continuity and people-centred governance.
Oyebanji told journalists in Ado-Ekiti that he had also called Oluyede and Bejide to reach out. “There is no doubt, this is an unprecedented electoral outcome in the history of our state,” he said, adding that Ekiti had chosen consensus building, peace and harmony as its political currency.
Leaders across the APC celebrated the victory. Imo Governor Hope Uzodimma, Chairman of the Progressive Governors’ Forum, said the result reflected Oyebanji’s quality leadership. Ogun Governor Dapo Abiodun described it as “democracy at work” and commended INEC and security agencies for a transparent exercise.
The opposition rejected the results. ADC candidate Bejide said the election was not credible, alleging open vote-buying and a “war zone” atmosphere in his polling unit. He said his party was collating results from units and wards before deciding on next steps.
PDP Chairman in Ekiti, Tunji Odeyemi, said the party was still studying reports from polling units before taking a formal position. National Publicity Secretary Mohammed Jungudo described the outcome as “sad” and “not something we were actually expecting,” pending a review by the monitoring team.
Election observers Yiaga Africa commended improvements in deployment of materials, early commencement of voting and peaceful conduct. However, it flagged gaps in results management, voter turnout computation and widespread vote-buying, urging INEC and security agencies to strengthen enforcement ahead of the 2027 general elections.
