Ekiti poll: INEC declares Oyebanji winner

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has declared incumbent Governor Biodun Oyebanji of the All Progressives Congress (APC) the winner of the Ekiti State governorship election held on Saturday.

The Returning Officer for the election and Vice-Chancellor of the Federal University of Technology, Akure, Professor Adenike Oladiji, announced the result in the early hours of Sunday at the INEC headquarters in Ado-Ekiti.

Declaring the result, Oladiji said, “Therefore, I, Adenike Oladiji, the Returning Officer for the 2026 Ekiti governorship election, hereby declare that Oyebanji Abiodun Abayomi, having satisfied the requirements of the law, is duly elected and stands re-elected.”

According to the final results, Oyebanji secured 319,224 votes to defeat his closest challengers, Olumayokun Oluyede of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), who polled 40,533 votes, and Oluwadare Bejide of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), who garnered 12,872 votes.

INEC disclosed that the state has 988,251 registered voters, while 384,940 voters were accredited for the election. A total of 382,109 votes were cast, out of which 375,777 were valid.

The APC candidate recorded victories across all 16 local government areas of the state, including Efon Local Government Area, the home council of PDP candidate Oluyede.

In Efon LGA, the APC polled 8,742 votes, while the PDP secured 2,051 votes and the ADC garnered 201 votes.

Other local government results showed strong performances for the APC in Ado-Ekiti, Irepodun/Ifelodun, Ekiti West, Ikole, Ijero, Moba and Ekiti East, among others, further consolidating Oyebanji’s victory and securing him a second term in office as governor of Ekiti State.