Photo: Governor Biodun Oyebanji
By Deborah Nnamdi
Governor 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, winning in all 16 local government areas of the state.
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) declared Oyebanji the winner of the election in the early hours of Sunday following the collation of results from across the state.
Announcing the result at the State Collation Centre in Ado-Ekiti, the Returning Officer, Prof. Adenike Oladiji, Vice-Chancellor of the Federal University of Technology, Akure, said the APC candidate met all constitutional requirements and emerged victorious.
“Therefore, I, Adenike Oladiji, the Returning Officer for the 2026 Ekiti governorship election, hereby declare Oyebanji Abiodun Abayomi, having satisfied the requirements of the law, as the winner and stands re-elected,” she said.
According to the final results released by INEC, Oyebanji polled 319,224 votes to defeat his closest challenger, Olumayokun Oluyede of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), who secured 40,533 votes. The African Democratic Congress (ADC) candidate, Dare Bejide, garnered 12,872 votes.
INEC said the state had 988,251 registered voters, while 384,940 voters were accredited for the election. Out of the 382,109 votes cast, 375,777 were declared valid.
The APC candidate dominated the poll across all local government areas, including Efon Local Government Area, the hometown of the PDP candidate. In Efon, Oyebanji scored 8,742 votes against Oluyede’s 2,051 votes, while the ADC candidate polled 201 votes.
The governor also recorded commanding victories in key local government areas, including Ado-Ekiti, where he secured 38,026 votes; Irepodun/Ifelodun with 29,278 votes; Ekiti West with 28,258 votes; Ikole with 26,508 votes; and Ekiti East with 26,359 votes.
The comprehensive victory across all 16 local government areas further underscored the APC’s dominance in the state and handed Oyebanji a renewed mandate to continue his administration for another term.
