By David Akinadewo-Adekahunsi
Osun State Governor and Accord Party candidate, Senator Ademola Adeleke, is maintaining his lead in the early collation of results from Saturday’s governorship election as the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) continues to upload polling-unit results to its Result Viewing Portal (IReV).
The latest update available from the IReV portal showed that 3,191 of the 3,763 expected polling-unit results had been uploaded as of 8:18 p.m., representing 84.80 per cent of the results expected from the 30 local government areas of the state.
A total of 572 polling-unit result sheets were still outstanding at that stage.
Available result aggregation from the uploaded results continues to show a close contest between Adeleke and his major challenger, the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate, Bola Oyebamiji, with the incumbent maintaining an advantage in the figures available so far.
The African Democratic Congress (ADC) candidate, Najeem Salaam, remains in third position in the emerging results, while the other candidates are trailing the three leading contenders.
Earlier aggregation from 303 of Osun’s 332 wards showed Adeleke with 177,572 votes, representing 50.5 per cent, while Oyebamiji had 158,588 votes, representing 45.1 per cent. Salaam had 5,917 votes at that stage. The figures were based on results available before the latest wave of IReV uploads and were therefore subject to further changes.
The latest IReV upload has significantly increased the number of polling-unit result sheets available for public scrutiny.
Osogbo Local Government Area, with 282 polling units, had 258 result sheets uploaded, leaving 24 outstanding. Ife Central had 194 of its 215 results uploaded, while Ife East had 181 of 200.
Ilesa East had 115 of its 132 expected results uploaded, while Ifelodun had 126 of 145. Aiyedaade recorded 121 of 150, Irepodun 120 of 133, Ila 117 of 124 and Ede North 116 of 139.
Boluwaduro had 73 of its 74 expected results uploaded, while Ifedayo had 60 of 63. Isokan had 73 of 95 results uploaded.
Ola-Oluwa recorded 41 of its 62 result sheets on the portal at the time of the update.
The rapid increase in uploaded results followed the conclusion of voting, sorting and counting at polling units across the state.
At various polling units visited by Nigerian Monitor during the election, voters reported substantial turnout, while some raised concerns about delays associated with the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS).
The European Union Support to Democratic Governance in Nigeria Election Observation Hub (EU-SDGN EOH), in its preliminary election-day statement, also reported impressive voter turnout and described the process as largely peaceful and orderly.
Earlier in the evening, INEC had uploaded 3,029 polling-unit results, representing 80.49 per cent of the expected 3,763 results, before the figure rose to 3,191.
The emerging figures have generated keen interest across the state, particularly because the election is largely being viewed as a two-horse contest between Adeleke and Oyebamiji.
Both leading candidates have expressed confidence in victory.
Adeleke, who is seeking another term in office, voted in Ede North and later expressed confidence in his chances, while Oyebamiji also maintained that he was confident of victory after casting his ballot.
