Incumbent Governor Adegboyega Oyetola has been declared winner of Saturday’s All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship primaries held in Osun State.
Oyetola polled 222,169 votes to beat his main challenger and former Secretary to the State Government Moshood Adeoti who got 12,921 votes.
Former House of Representatives Deputy Speaker Rt Hon. Lasun Yusuf polled 460 votes to emerge second runner-up in the ballot that has been adjudged very peaceful and credible by most observers.
Chairman of the Osun Governorship Primary Election Committee and Governor of Kwara State AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq announced the results at the state secretariat of APC at 2.57a.m. on Sunday.
There were a total of 408, 697 registered voters (party members), out of which 247, 207 were accredited to take part in the exercise, according to the Governor.
He said there were a total of 235,550 votes cast in the Osun Governorship Primaries.
“I, AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq, chairman of Osun Governorship Primary Election Committee, hereby certify that Adegboyega Isiaka Oyetola, having scored the highest number of votes cast in the Osun State Governorship primary election held on February 19, 2022 and met all the requirements as contained in the guidelines for the election, is declared the winner,” he announced, drawing applause from the audience.
The announcement followed hours-long collation of results from across the 30 local government areas of the state, which started at about 12.45a.m.
Chairman of APC in Osun State Prince Gboyega Famodun, who spoke on behalf of the party, commended members of the party for the impressive turnout and peaceful conduct of the exercise.
Famodun commended the AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq-led committee for the painstaking, enthusiasm and love shown in the excellent conduct of the primaries.
The party chairman lauded AbdulRazaq for the maturity, patriotism and calmness with which he conducted the exercise, thereby giving lies to predictions of violence and rancour in the run-up to the primaries.
“I want to thank you for the pains you have taken. That was very articulate. You have done so well beyond our expectations. May God bless you for the enthusiasm, and love you showed for this assignment,” Famodun said.
“I want to say that we are all members of the same family in Osun. All structures of the party are happy with the conduct of the exercise. I want to thank you for making us proud and for relieving us the pressure. May God bless you, Your Excellency, for dousing the tension that enveloped the state before the primaries.
“The foundation laid by your committee will be followed to lead us to victory in July, this year.”
Like the conduct of the ballot itself, the collation and announcement of results were observed by representatives of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), observers and the media.
