The Action Democratic Party (ADP) candidate in the 2026 Osun State governorship election, Yemisi Opawoye, has disputed reports that she finished sixth in the poll, insisting that the official result released by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) placed her fourth.
Opawoye made the clarification in a statement issued in Osogbo on Saturday, following reports that ranked her sixth among the 15 candidates who contested the election.
According to the candidate, the INEC Form EC8E — Declaration of Result — showed that she polled 2,946 votes, placing her fourth overall.
She attached a copy of the result sheet, which contained the votes recorded by all 15 candidates and was signed by the State Returning Officer, Prof. Joshua Ogunwole.
Opawoye said the clarification was necessary to correct what she described as an error in some media reports on the final ranking of candidates.
She said, “Some media reports have incorrectly stated that Hon. Comr. Adeagbo Opawoye Yemisi, the candidate of the Action Democratic Party (ADP), finished sixth in the election.
“This is incorrect. According to the official INEC Form EC8E — Declaration of Result, Hon. Adeagbo Opawoye Yemisi received 2,946 votes, placing her fourth among the 15 governorship candidates when the candidates are ranked according to the votes they received.”
The figures contained in the result sheet showed Accord in first place with 511,067 votes, followed by the All Progressives Congress (APC) with 444,815 votes and the African Democratic Congress (ADC) with 17,180 votes.
The ADP came fourth with 2,946 votes, followed by the Zenith Labour Party (ZLP) with 2,482 votes and the Action Alliance (AA) with 2,308 votes.
Opawoye urged journalists, political stakeholders and members of the public to rely on the official INEC EC8E declaration when reporting the final standings of candidates.
She said the clarification was not intended to generate controversy but to ensure that the public record accurately reflected the votes declared by the electoral commission.
The election was won by the Accord candidate, Ademola Adeleke, who secured 511,067 votes to defeat his closest challenger, Bola Oyebamiji of the APC, who polled 444,815 votes.
