By Ghazali Ibrahim
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has declared the incumbent Governor of Ekiti State and candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Biodun Oyebanji, winner of the 2026 governorship election in the state.
The Returning Officer for the election, Professor Adenike Oladiji, announced the result on Sunday at the State Collation Centre, stating that Oyebanji secured a total of 319,224 votes to emerge victorious.
According to the official results, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate, Oluwole Oluyede, polled 40,543 votes, while Dare Bejide of the African Democratic Party (ADP) garnered 12,872 votes.
Oladiji disclosed that 384,940 voters were accredited for the election. She added that 375,777 votes were declared valid, while 6,332 ballots were rejected.
Voting commenced across the state on Saturday morning and officially ended at 2:30 p.m., with more than 300,000 voters participating in the exercise.
Oyebanji, who was first elected governor on June 18, 2022, and sworn into office in October of the same year, has now secured a second term in office.
It should be noted that while former governors Kayode Fayemi and Ayo Fayose served two terms, it wasn’t consecutive like Oyebanji who makes history as the first governor to do so.
The victory is considered historic, as it makes the 58-year-old APC candidate the first incumbent governor in Ekiti State to win re-election since the state’s creation.
The election results were collated from all 16 local government areas of the state before the final declaration by INEC on Sunday.
