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 after securing a decisive majority of votes across the 16 local government areas of the state.
According to the final collation announced on Form EC8E, the governor polled a total of 319,224 votes to defeat his closest rival, Wole Oluyede of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), who scored 40,543 votes. The governorship candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Oluwadare Bejide, came third in the race with a total of 12,872 votes.
With the victory, Oyebanji has made history as the first governor of Ekiti State who will be serving two terms at a stretch or spending eight straight years at the Government House in Ado-Ekiti. While former governors such as Ayo Fayose and Kayode Fayemi served two terms, theirs were non-consecutive tenures.
The returning officer for the election, Prof Adenike Oladiji, while announcing the result at about 3:13 a.m. on Sunday, disclosed that 384,940 voters were accredited for the election, while 375,777 valid votes were recorded. According to her, 6,332 votes were rejected, bringing the total votes cast to 382,109.
INEC reported that all 2,445 polling units designated for the governorship election opened for voting. The commission also commenced the upload of polling unit results to its Result Viewing Portal (IReV) after voting and counting ended in several locations.
Before the declaration of results, the election witnessed a mixture of orderly voting, technical challenges and allegations of irregularities, even as observers and many voters commended security agencies for maintaining peace throughout much of the exercise.
According to the commission, 2,257 polling units, representing 92.31 per cent, opened on schedule before 8:30 a.m., while 188 polling units, accounting for 7.69 per cent, experienced minor delays but commenced voting before 10:30 a.m.
With the declaration, Oyebanji has made history in Ekiti State’s political landscape as a second-term governor. Ahead of the election, the governor secured the backing of influential political stakeholders across party lines, as well as traditional rulers and grassroots structures across all 16 LGAs.
Oyebanji’s re-election positions him for another four years in office with a renewed mandate from voters across the state while strengthening his party’s continuity in governance. The breakdown of votes for other parties showed the following:
ADC – 12,872
ADP – 1,269
A – 564
AA – 126
AAC – 195
APM – 59
APP – 61
LP – 276
NNPP – 35
PRP – 163
SDP – 179
YPP – 98
ZLP – 113
