PRESIDENT Muhammadu Buhari, yesterday, congratulated Senator Ademola Adeleke of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) following his victory of in last Saturday’s governorship election in Osun State.
In his congratulatory message, which was contained in a statement in Abuja by his spokesman, Mr. Femi Adesina, the President
expressed conviction that with the election over, the people of Osun had expressed their will through the ballot, which must always matter and be respected in a democracy.
Buhari said the successful conduct of the election is a further testimony to the maturity and commitment of all stakeholders, including the electoral body, security agencies, political parties, the media, civil society and the electorate, to further strengthen the integrity of the electoral process in the country, assuring the country that the commitment of this administration “toward having credible elections remains unshaken.”
The Returning Officer of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for the election, Prof. Oluwatoyin Ogundipe, yesterday morning declared Adeleke winner of the election, held on Saturday, July 16.
Adeleke polled 403,371 votes to defeat his closet rival and current governor of the state, Gboyega Oyetola of the All Progressives Congress (APC), who, scored 375,027 votes.
Ogundipe, who is the Vice Chancellor of the University of Lagos, said the Action Democratic Party (ADP) scored 10,104 to come third, while the Accord Party candidate came fourth with 4,515 votes.
Despite criticisms over his choice of a Christian deputy governorship candidate, Kola Adewusi, Adeleke won the election on a Christian-Christian ticket.
