The 2022 Osun State gubernatorial election took place on 16 July 2022, to elect the governor of Osun State. Incumbent All Progressives Congress Governor Gboyega Oyetola was eligible for re-election but lost by a 3.5% margin to former Senator Ademola Adeleke—the nominee of the Peoples Democratic Party. Adeleke and his running mate, Kola Adewusi, were inaugurated on 27 November. However, the Election Petition Tribunal overturned the result on 27 January 2023, awarding the win to Oyetola; Adeleke immediately appealed the ruling and remains in office pending the results of further litigation.
The primaries, scheduled for between 16 February and 12 March, resulted in Oyetola winning the APC nomination for a second time, albeit amid outcry from his primary challengers. For the main opposition PDP, longtime internal disputes led to two parallel primaries being held as a faction nominated former senatorial candidate Dotun Babayemi while the faction recognized by the national PDP nominated former Senator for Osun West Ademola Adeleke, the party's 2018 nominee. As the Independent National Electoral Commission only observed the primary that nominated Adeleke, he was recognized as the legitimate PDP nominee.
The general election was noted by solid logistical organisation and mainly peaceful voting but was marred by reports of vote buying. By the early morning of 17 July, collation completed and the Independent National Electoral Commission declared Adeleke as the winner. In total, Adeleke won over 400,000 votes and 50% of the vote as runner-up Oyetola received around 375,000 votes and over 46% of the vote. Electoral analysis focused on the effect of the divisions within the state APC along with the election's national impact as the final election before the presidential election in 2023. Civil society and election observer groups concentrated on the vote-buying reports but commended the highly successful election administration by INEC which resulted in smooth voting, direct online transmission of results, and an early winner declaration. However, Oyetola rejected the results and filed a challenge at the electoral tribunal. In a separate court case, Oyetola's nomination was voided after a court ruled that the APC gubernatorial primary was illegally conducted; however, Oyetola won the appeal.
Electoral system The governor of Osun State is elected using a modified two-round system. To be elected in the first round, a candidate must receive the plurality of the vote and over 25% of the vote in at least two-thirds of state local government areas. If no candidate passes this threshold, a second round will be held between the top candidate and the next candidate to have received a plurality of votes in the highest number of local government areas.
Background Osun State is a small, Yoruba-majority southwestern state with vast natural areas and rich cultural heritage but facing an underdeveloped agricultural sector and high debt.
Politically, Oyetola's close 2018 victory was a forerunner of the state's competitiveness in the 2019 elections with presidential incumbent Muhammadu Buhari barely winning the state back and all three Senate races being fairly close. Of the Senate elections, two seats went to the APC and one went to the PDP while the House of Representatives elections went 6 APC and 3 PDP. Contrastly, the APC won a large majority in the State House of Assembly.
At the beginning of Oyetola's term, his promises included completing in-progress projects, full payment of civil servant salaries, and further developing his predecessor's welfare programs. In terms of his performance, Oyetola was commended for mining development but was criticized for declaring numerous public holidays and failing to pay pensions. Oyetola also came under pressure when the Pandora Papers revealed that he had bought a London mansion from an international fugitive wanted for money laundering using a British Virgin Islands-based offshore company as Nigerian authorities were attempting to freeze the fugitive's assets.
Primary elections The primaries, along with any potential challenges to primary results, were scheduled for between 16 February and 12 March. According to some candidates and community leaders, an informal zoning gentlemen's agreement should have set the Osun West Senatorial District to have the next governor as since the 1999 return of democracy, all Osun governors have come from either the Osun East or Osun Central Senatorial Districts. While the PDP ended up nominating Adelake, a westerner, Oyetola was renominated by the APC despite his Central origins.
All Progressives Congress Although there were rumors of a rift between Governor Oyetola and former Governor Rauf Aregbesola that could lead to Oyetola failing to be renominated, Osun APC Chairman Gboyega Famodun claimed that Oyetola was widely accepted throughout the state and local APC chapters and thus would have the support of the state party. However, the Osun State APC later factionalized between the Oyetola-aligned IleriOluwa faction (chaired by Famodun) and the Aregbesola-aligned The Osun Progressives faction (chaired by Rasaq Salinsile). Despite outside attempts at reconciliation, the party crisis deepened by January 2022 and the threat of two parallel primaries loomed as Oyetola registered to run in the IleriOluwa APC while challengers registered to run in the TOP APC. Eventually, the IleriOluwa faction was recognized by the national APC and the primary continued within it as Aregbesola endorsed challenger Moshood Adeoti while Oyetola began his campaign for a second term.
In January 2022, the APC rescheduled its primary for 19 February with the expression of interest form costing ₦2.5 million and the nomination form costing ₦20 million; a 50% discount would be provided to women candidates and candidates with disabilities. The party also rescheduled its candidate screening and screening appeal process for 10 and 15 February, respectively. Different dates had been announced in November but the dates were changed after national revision.
In the days before the election, the Oyetola-Aregbesola feud escalated after Aregbesola formally endorsed Adeoti on 14 February. Aregbesola then claimed that his convoy was attacked later that day in an assassination attempt while the police and Oyetola administration claimed that Aregbesola's guards shot into the air without any provocation. The next day, Aregbesola allies claimed that they had uncovered a new plot to kill Aregbesola by "state government-sponsored political thugs," thus indirectly accusing Oyetola of organizing the assassination plots. These incidents lead to fears that the primary could be marred by violence despite the increased security presence during the exercise. Thankfully, the practice was mainly peaceful, albeit with one person being shot dead over a non-election related dispute according to police. In the early morning of 20 February, head of the primary committee and Kwara State Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq declared Oyetola as the APC nominee after announced results showed him defeating Adeoti and former House Deputy Speaker Yusuf Sulaimon Lasun by over 200,000 votes with 60% turnout. Before the results were even announced, Adeoti and his allies rejected the primary wholeheartedly with his supporters claiming that their names were purposefully left off registers, others observing that INEC officials were absent from units, and Aregbesola calling the primary a "sham of an election." For their part, Oyetola supporters backed the exercise's fairness and Oyetola himself called for party unity the day after the primary. Prior to taking outside legal action, Adeoti appealed to the APC primary election appeal committee which denied his appeal; accordingly, Adeoti then asked a Federal High Court in Abuja to declare him winner. The case was not resolved until 14 July when Justice Inyang Eden Ekwo dismissed the lawsuit. However, a different case brought by the PDP contested that the primary was invalid due to illegitimate APC national leadership as then-APC Chair Mai Mala Buni was an incumbent governor; on 1 October 2022, a Federal High Court ruled in favor of the PDP, nullifying the APC gubernatorial primary and declaring Oyetola's nomination void. The APC announced that the party would appeal the ruling and on 3 December, a Court of Appeal judgment overturned the lower court's decision. On 2 February 2023, the Supreme Court upheld the Court of Appeal judgment by dismissing the PDP case.
Nominated Gboyega Oyetola: Governor, former Chief of Staff to the Governor, and relative of former Lagos State Governor Bola Tinubu Running mate—Benedict Gboyega Alabi: Deputy Governor
Defeated in primary Moshood Adeoti: former Secretary to the State Government Yusuf Sulaimon Lasun: former House of Representatives member for Irepodun/Olurunda/Osogbo/Orolu, former Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, and 2018 APC gubernatorial candidate (defected after to the primary to successfully obtain the LP gubernatorial nomination)
Declined Najeem Salaam: former Speaker of the Osun State House of Assembly
Results
By local government area LGAOyetolaAdeotiLasunTotal votes#%#%#%# Aiyedaade 3,615 87.00% 540 13.00% 0 0.00% 4,155 Aiyedire 3,274 92.07% 279 7.85% 3 0.08% 3,556 Atakunmosa East 2,637 94.04% 165 5.89% 2 0.07% 2,804 Atakunmosa West 4,655 93.72% 305 6.14% 7 0.14% 4,967 Boluwaduro 6,399 99.04% 62 0.96% 0 0.00% 6,461 Boripe 15,034 99.97% 5 0.03% 0 0.00% 15,039 Ede North 7,117 95.79% 311 4.21% 0 0.00% 7,430 Ede South 2,664 80.92% 628 19.08% 0 0.00% 3,292 Egbedore 5,500 92.91% 420 7.09% 0 0.00% 5,920 Ejigbo 8,007 95.70% 360 4.30% 0 0.00% 8,367 Ife Central 10,843 96.92% 344 3.07% 1 0.01% 11,188 Ife East 12,030 97.36% 326 2.64% 0 0.00% 12,356 Ife North 3,377 93.18% 242 6.68% 5 0.14% 3,624 Ife South 8,268 99.48% 43 0.52% 0 0.00% 8,311 Ifedayo 4,214 96.76% 141 3.24% 0 0.00% 4,355 Ifelodun 11,873 94.75% 631 5.03% 27 0.22% 12,531 Ila 8,834 99.47% 47 0.53% 0 0.00% 8,881 Ilesa East 4,857 90.94% 483 9.04% 1 0.02% 5341 Ilesa West 3,877 89.68% 446 10.32% 0 0.00% 4,323 Irepodun 7,928 89.34% 732 8.25% 214 2.41% 8,874 Irewole 7,560 93.37% 537 6.63% 0 0.00% 8,097 Isokan 6,468 95.68% 279 4.13% 13 0.19% 6,760 Iwo 9,432 78.76% 2,543 21.23% 1 0.01% 11,976 Obokun 5,245 90.84% 527 9.13% 2 0.03% 5,774 Odo Otin 7,035 86.65% 384 13.35% 0 0.00% 8,119 Ola Oluwa 3,771 91.22% 363 8.78% 0 0.00% 4,134 Olorunda 7,103 92.74% 555 7.25% 1 0.01% 7,659 Oriade 10,935 96.05% 438 3.85% 11 0.10% 11,384 Orolu 6,652 98.08% 130 1.92% 0 0.00% 6,782 Osogbo 22,265 96.43% 655 2.84% 170 0.74% 23,090Totals222,16994.32%12,9215.48%4600.20%235,550
People's Democratic Party By 2021, Ademola Adeleke, the 2018 PDP nominee, had already received the support of the national PDP with party officials claiming he has effectively been given the nomination according to PDP Deputy National Publicity Secretary Duran Odeyemi. However, the state PDP claimed that while "the majority of our party stakeholders" were supporting Adeleke, all contenders were allowed to run in the primary. This assessment became contested as the state party later factionalized between the Adeleke-supporting faction (chaired by Sunday Bisi) and the faction aligned with the other five candidates (chaired by Wale Ojo). Another internal battle was sparked in January 2022 when a dispute between Ademola and Dele Adeleke—both members of the powerful Adeleke political family of Ede—escalated and tied in popular musician Davido, cousin of Dele and nephew of Ademola, who has supported Ademola since 2018 and attacked Dele on social media.