Oyebanji Is About to Make History in Ekiti. No Incumbent Has Won a Second Term Here Since 1999.

Oyebanji Is About to Make History in Ekiti. No Incumbent Has Won a Second Term Here Since 1999.

Ekiti State has a tradition that has held firm across every election cycle since Nigeria returned to democracy in 1999. It does not re-elect its governors.

Adeniyi Adebayo served one term. Ayo Fayose served two terms but his first was truncated by impeachment. Kayode Fayemi had two separate terms but not consecutive. No sitting governor has gone to the polls seeking re-election and won in Ekiti State in 27 years of unbroken civilian governance.

Governor Biodun Oyebanji of the All Progressives Congress could make history if he secures re-election. No incumbent has won a second term since the state elected its first governor, Adeniyi Adebayo, in 1999, who served a single term.

As of 9 PM on Saturday, June 20, 2026, the results trickling into the INEC collation centre in Ado-Ekiti suggested that tradition was about to be broken.

The Voting Day

Ekiti State headed into the Saturday, June 20, 2026 off-cycle governorship election with its largest voter register in history. Fourteen candidates were vying for the Ekiti governorship seat.

Polling opened in most parts of the state at 8:30 AM. Election materials and INEC officials arrived early in most polling units, with voting commencing by 8:30 AM in 69% of locations observed, according to the EU-SDGN Election Observation Hub.

The early hours were relatively calm across most of the state. Reports of vote-buying incidents emerged from multiple areas, but they did not appear to have disrupted the voting process at scale.

Then things got interesting.

The EFCC Confrontation That Went Viral

Drama unfolded in Iyin-Ekiti on Saturday as voters at Polling Unit 10, Ward B, forced EFCC operatives to leave the polling station during the ongoing election. The operatives had reportedly arrived at the unit while voting was in progress, but were compelled to withdraw following resistance from some voters at the scene.

Video of the confrontation circulated widely on X and WhatsApp throughout the day, sparking debate about whether EFCC's presence at polling units constituted anti-vote-buying enforcement or voter intimidation. Both arguments were made loudly on social media.

Journalists also came under pressure during the election. Suspected hoodlums attacked NAN and The Nation reporters in Iyin-Ekiti, according to Eagle Online, adding to a pattern of press freedom concerns during off-cycle elections across Nigeria.

The Results That Came In

Whatever the controversies during the day, the results themselves told a consistent story.

Oyebanji won his own polling unit comprehensively. Results announced at Polling Unit 003, Ward 06, Okelele, Ikogosi Ekiti, showed that the APC secured 326 votes, with the African Democratic Congress polling just two votes.

He then won the polling unit of his chief rival's home territory. At Polling Unit 001, St David's Primary School/Maternity Area, Afao-Ekiti, in the PDP candidate Wole Oluyede's home area of Irepodun/Ifelodun LGA, Oyebanji polled 448 votes. The ADC's Dare Bejide got 37. The PDP's Oluyede managed only four votes at his own home unit.

He won at former Governor Opeyemi Bamidele's polling unit with 164 votes to PDP's eight.

He swept former Governor Ayodele Fayose's polling unit with 448 votes out of 493 valid votes cast. Fayose had earlier predicted the election's winner, citing "overwhelming public support."

The pattern repeated itself across all 16 local government areas.

Preliminary collation figures indicate Oyebanji secured a wide margin of victory over his closest challenger, the PDP, as well as other participating parties, winning all local government areas whose results had been announced so far.

The specific figures from the biggest LGAs tell the scale of the margin. In Ado-Ekiti, the state capital and largest voting centre, Oyebanji polled 38,026 votes against the PDP's 3,817. In Ekiti West he secured 28,258 votes compared to PDP's 3,644. In Irepodun/Ifelodun LGA he polled 29,278. In Ikole he delivered 26,508 for the APC.

The PDP's strongest performance came from Ikere Local Government Area, home of their candidate Wole Oluyede, where it polled 9,892 votes. However, even in that council, Oyebanji still emerged victorious with 11,116 votes.

By 7:45 PM, the picture was clear. INEC had uploaded results from 2,208 of the 2,445 polling units, approximately 90% of total polling units, to the IReV portal. The figures at that point showed APC on 78,979 votes, PDP on 10,736, and ADC on 2,964.

That is a margin of roughly 68,000 votes with 10% of results still to come.

On the Verge of a Declaration

INEC was on the verge of formally declaring Oyebanji the winner of the Ekiti State governorship election as collation of results across all 16 local government areas drew to a close. Although the electoral body had not yet officially announced the final outcome, officials at the state collation centre in Ado Ekiti were said to be meticulously reviewing figures in line with electoral guidelines before making a formal declaration.

The formal announcement was expected imminently as this article was published. A declaration confirming Oyebanji as the winner would make him the first governor in Ekiti State's history to win a second consecutive term.

What the Election Means for 2027

The Ekiti result is being watched closely for what it signals about Tinubu's political standing in the South-West ahead of the 2027 presidential election.

Ekiti governorship election has been described as a referendum on Tinubu and Oyebanji's performances, with multiple political observers saying it also reflects the APC's organisational strength in the South-West.

Oyebanji's first term was won in 2022 with 187,057 votes. His 2026 margin, based on results available by 9 PM Saturday, appears likely to surpass that figure, which would represent an expansion of support rather than a consolidation of it.

The APC's ability to deliver a commanding victory in a state election where voter sentiment has historically been unpredictable and incumbency advantage has never been decisive is the data point Tinubu's political allies will be highlighting loudly in the days ahead.

Opposition parties, having collectively failed to mount a challenge that came anywhere close to Oyebanji's performance in any single local government area, will need to rethink their strategy in the South-West before 2027.

What the Observers Said

The EU-SDGN Election Observation Hub, comprising the Kukah Centre, TAF Africa, Nigerian Women Trust Fund, Yiaga Africa, International Press Centre and the Centre for Media and Society, commended BVAS performance, recording a 96% functionality rate across monitored polling units.

Despite the positive assessment, the group raised concerns over observed irregularities including discrepancies in ballot papers and result sheets, as well as incidents of vote buying and voter intimidation. It also reported restrictions on media access and movement in parts of Ikere, Ado-Ekiti, Ekiti West and Ikole LGAs.

Multiple candidates raised concerns about vote-buying during the day. The ADC governorship candidate, Dare Bejide, said his driver was beaten and left bleeding after a physical confrontation at a polling unit.

The Mountain of Champions for Excellence, a civil society group, demanded a probe of vote-buying and other alleged irregularities in the poll.

These concerns are part of the formal post-election record and will likely form the basis of any legal challenge, though the scale of Oyebanji's apparent margin makes overturning the result through a tribunal extremely challenging.

By the Numbers

APC (Oyebanji): 78,979 votes from 90% of polling units

PDP (Oluyede): 10,736 votes

ADC (Bejide): 2,964 votes

Polling units reporting: 2,208 of 2,445

INEC portal upload rate: 90%

Local government areas won by APC: All 16

Formal declaration: Pending as of publication