APC's Oyebanji Wins Ekiti Governorship Election As INEC Declares Wike's Ally Victorious At Rivers Senatorial Poll

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

The governor was re-elected after polling 319,224 votes over his closest rivals in the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Olumayokun Oluyede and African Democratic Congress (ADC), Dare Bejide, across the state’s 16 local governments.

The Returning Officer for the election, Prof Adenike Oladiji, who is the Vice-Chancellor of Federal University of Technology, Akure, announced the results in the early hours of Sunday at the INEC’s headquarters on Iyin Road in Ado-Ekiti, the state capital.

Oladiji said, “Therefore, I, Adenike, am the returning officer for the 2026 Ekiti governorship election…Oyebanji Abiodun Abayomi, having satisfied the requirements of the law, is hereby declared the winner and stands re-elected.”

While the APC polled 319,224 votes, the PDP candidate polled 40, 533 votes, and the ADC candidate amassed 12,872 votes.

There are 988,251 registered voters, and 384,940 are accredited. Out of the 382,109 votes cast, the total valid votes in the election were 375, 777

In a related development, INEC has declared Olaka Nwogu of the Peoples Democratic Party as the winner of the Rivers South-East senatorial by-election, with the ruling All Progressives Congress losing out.

Nwogu secured a landslide victory after polling a total of 47,961 votes while the candidate of the APC gathered only 1,647 votes.

The Action Alliance finished in third place with 1,175 votes, while the Labour Party trailed far behind in fourth position with only 367 votes