Gov. Biodun Oyebanji of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has been re-elected as governor of Ekiti State after securing a landslide victory in Saturday’s governorship election.
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) declared Oyebanji winner of the poll after he scored 319,224 votes to defeat his closest challenger from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), who garnered 40,543 votes.
The African Democratic Congress (ADC) came third with 12,872 votes.
The State Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC), Dr Bunmi Omoseyindemi, announced the final results in Ado-Ekiti on Sunday.
Omoseyindemi said that having satisfied the requirements of the law and scored the highest number of valid votes cast, Oyebanji was duly returned elected.
A breakdown of the results showed that the APC won in all the 16 local government areas of the state.
In Ado Local Government Area, the APC polled 38,026 votes, while the PDP and ADC secured 3,817 and 1,054 votes respectively.
The ruling party also recorded strong performances in Irepodun/Ifelodun, where it scored 29,278 votes, Ekiti West with 28,258 votes, Ikole with 26,508 votes and Ekiti East with 26,359 votes.
In Ijero Local Government Area, APC secured 25,506 votes against PDP’s 2,479 votes and ADC’s 2,026 votes.
The party further maintained its dominance in Moba, Oye, Ido/Osi, Ayekire, Emure, Ekiti South-West, Efon, Ise/Orun, Ilejemeje and Ikere local government areas.
Although the PDP’s best performance came from Ikere Local Government Area where it polled 9,872 votes, it was unable to overcome the APC’s lead of 11,116 votes in the area.
There was also a reported cancellation of results in one polling unit in Irepodun/Ifelodun Local Government Area due to over-voting. However, the development did not affect the overall outcome of the election.
The declaration of the results confirms Oyebanji’s return to office for a second term and further consolidates the APC’s political dominance in Ekiti State.
Political observers described the outcome as one of the most decisive victories recorded in the state’s recent electoral history, with the governor securing overwhelming support across all local government areas.
The election was conducted amid tight security and was generally peaceful across the state.
