The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has declared Governor Biodun Oyebanji of the All Progressives Congress (APC) as the winner of the 2026 Ekiti State governorship election, securing a second term in office after a resounding victory at the polls.

 

The Returning Officer for the election, Prof. Adenike Oladiji, announced the final results in the early hours of Sunday at the state collation centre in Ado-Ekiti.

 

According to the results released by INEC, Oyebanji polled 319,224 votes to defeat his closest rival, Oluwole Oluyede of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), who secured 40,543 votes. The candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Dare Bejide, came third with 12,872 votes.

 

Prof. Oladiji stated that the APC candidate met all constitutional requirements and scored the highest number of valid votes cast in the election.

 

Election statistics released by INEC showed that 384,940 voters were accredited for the poll, while 375,777 valid votes were recorded. A total of 6,332 votes were rejected, bringing the total votes cast to 382,109.

 

Oyebanji's victory was particularly significant as he reportedly won in all 16 local government areas of the state, underscoring the APC's dominance across Ekiti.

 

The election, conducted on Saturday across the state's 2,445 polling units, was largely peaceful, although there were reports of technical challenges involving the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) and allegations of irregularities in some locations.

 

With the declaration, Oyebanji becomes one of the few governors in Ekiti State to secure re-election through a sweeping statewide mandate, reinforcing his administration's political strength ahead of another four-year term.

 

Political stakeholders and supporters of the APC have since celebrated the outcome, while opposition parties are expected to review the election process and determine their next line of action.

 

The 2026 governorship election was widely regarded as a major test of political strength among the leading parties in the state and is expected to shape political alignments ahead of future elections in the South-West region.