Oyebanji dominates key polling units in Ekiti 2026 governorship election

During Saturday's Ekiti State governorship election, the All Progressives Congress (APC) nominee Biodun Oyebanji posted commanding victories across numerous polling units. In his hometown of Ikogosi, located in Ekiti West Local Government Area, results proved particularly dominant: from 333 ballots cast, he obtained 326 votes.

The unit encompassed 668 registered voters total, leaving the African Democratic Congress (ADC) and Action Democratic Party (ADP) with barely any support. Oyebanji's strength was evident where previous state governors had cast ballots.

He amassed 448 votes at the polling site where Ayodele Fayose, a former governor, participated—this came from 493 valid ballots recorded. At the location in Ogilolo, Isan-Ekiti where Kayode Fayemi once served as governor, Oyebanji collected 158 votes, while the ADC and PDP registered negligible counts.

These figures indicated substantial backing for the APC in constituencies traditionally viewed as opposition bastions. Yet this pattern faced an exception at one unit.

Wole Oluyed, fielded as the PDP candidate, surpassed Oyebanji by posting 119 votes compared to the governor's 113 votes—constituting the sole documented instance where an opposition contender outperformed the APC representative. That particular unit had 237 accredited voters drawn from a registration roll of 790.

At his own polling location in Ilaw, Ekiti Ward II, Dare Bejide, the ADC's standard-bearer, trailed badly, as Oyebanji prevailed with 140 votes against Bejide's 37. Throughout the observed polling units, electoral personnel confirmed that voting and tallying transpired without incident, with representatives from political parties supervising the proceedings.

As the day unfolded, personnel recorded results utilizing INEC documentation while vote consolidation advanced statewide.