Adeleke's 2022 Victory Follows 2018 Narrow Defeat

Ademola Adeleke, the Accord Party candidate, first contested the Osun governorship election in 2018 under the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and lost to Gboyega Oyetola of the All Progressives Congress (APC) by 482 votes. Initially, Adeleke led with 254,698 votes to Oyetola's 254,345, but the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) declared the election inconclusive due to 3,498 cancelled votes.

A rerun on September 27, 2018, resulted in Oyetola winning with 1,160 votes against Adeleke's 325, leading to a final tally of 255,505 votes for Oyetola and 255,023 for Adeleke. Adeleke returned to contest in 2022, defeating Oyetola with 403,371 votes to 375,027, winning 17 out of 30 local government areas.

He was declared the winner by Returning Officer Prof Oluwatoyin Ogundipe and was sworn in as governor on November 27, 2022. Oyetola and the APC later challenged Adeleke's victory at the Election Petitions Tribunal, alleging irregularities.