There are indications that the Osun State gubernatorial election is a straight fight between the APC and the PDP, as counting of votes has commenced. Official ward results showed that the All Progressives Congress and the Peoples Democratic Party are in a tight race.
Though 15 political parties participated in the election, the top contenders are the candidate of APC, Governor Gboyega Oyetola and the candidate of the PDP, Ademola Adeleke.
This is the second time the two candidates would be meeting.
Both Oyetola and Adeleke contested for the Osun governorship seat in 2018, which Oyetola won after a rerun.
After the rerun election which took place in seven units, Oyetola won seven, while Adeleke won one.
At the end of the rerun, Oyetola polled 255,505 votes while the PDP candidate scored a total of 255,023 votes.
Although Adeleke had led Oyetola with 353 votes at the end of the first round of ballots, but after the rerun, Oyetola won with 482 votes.
Some of the ward results are from Osogbo, Boripe, Ayedire, Ifedayo, Irewole, Ede, Olorunda, and Ife.
15 political parties are participating in the election, while 1,955,657 registered voters will decide the fate of the candidates.
The Independent National Electoral Commission had also said the election would take place in 332 registration areas across the 30 local government areas of the state.
Governor Adegboyega Oyetola expressed confidence that he would win the governorship election after casting his vote at Unit 2, Ward 1, LA Primary School, Popo, Iragbiji in Boripe Local Government Area.
Oyetola, who arrived at the polling unit in company of his wife, Kafayat, cast his vote at exactly 10.55 a.m, three minutes after his wife voted.
The governor said he was happy with the turnout of voters, especially at his polling unit. He said the election process was transparent, adding that this encouraged voters to come out en-masse to vote.
His polling unit had 1,457 registered voters.
Adeleke also expressed confidence in becoming the next governor of Osun State.
The PDP gov candidate cast his vote at 8.50 a.m at Ward 2 polling Unit 9 in Ede North Local Government area of Osun.
Adeleke commended INEC for making the accreditation processes and voting smooth and easy.
He also commended the security personnel for their commitment towards ensuring the safety of lives and property in the ongoing governorship election.
Ede North has a total registered voter of 71, 750 for the governorship election, with 151 polling units and 11 registration areas.
Also, Ede South has 54, 880 registration voters, with 89 polling units and 10 registration areas.