Governor Biodun Oyebanji of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has secured a second term in office after emerging victorious in the Ekiti State governorship election.
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) officially declared Oyebanji the winner on Sunday following the conclusion of the statewide collation of results in Ado-Ekiti, the state capital.
According to the final results announced on Form EC8E, Oyebanji polled 319,224 votes, recording a landslide victory over his closest challenger, Wole Oluyede of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), who garnered 40,543 votes.
The governorship candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Oluwadare Bejide, finished third with 12,872 votes.
The INEC State Collation Officer made the final declaration after the aggregation of results from all 16 local government areas of the state.
She affirmed that the APC candidate satisfied the constitutional and electoral requirements for election as governor.
INEC disclosed that a total of 382,109 votes were cast during the election, with 6,332 ballots rejected.
The commission also revealed that 384,940 voters were accredited out of the 988,251 registered voters in the state.
A breakdown of the votes secured by other political parties showed that the African Democratic Congress (ADC) polled 12,872 votes, while the Action Democratic Party (ADP) secured 1,269 votes. Accord received 564 votes, the Action Alliance (AA) got 126 votes, and the African Action Congress (AAC) polled 195 votes.
Other parties recorded lower figures, with the Allied Peoples Movement (APM) scoring 59 votes, the Action Peoples Party (APP) 61 votes, the Labour Party (LP) 276 votes, the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) 35 votes, the Peoples Redemption Party (PRP) 163 votes, the Social Democratic Party (SDP) 179 votes, the Young Progressives Party (YPP) 98 votes, and the Zenith Labour Party (ZLP) 113 votes.
The victory marks a significant political milestone for Oyebanji and further strengthens the APC’s dominance in Ekiti State politics.
His re-election ensures continuity in the administration’s policies and programmes for another four-year term.
Political observers have linked the governor’s overwhelming victory to a combination of incumbency advantage, strategic political alliances, and public perception of his administration’s performance in critical sectors such as infrastructure development, education, healthcare, and workers’ welfare.
In the months leading to the election, Oyebanji also secured endorsements from prominent political figures, traditional rulers, and grassroots stakeholders across the state, boosting his campaign across the 16 local government areas.
The opposition parties, particularly the PDP and ADC, struggled to mount a coordinated challenge against the APC, a development analysts say weakened their chances at the polls.
With the outcome, Oyebanji joins the list of Ekiti governors who have successfully secured a second tenure in office, while also reinforcing the APC’s political foothold in the state.
