Adeleke used only nine votes to defeat his closest rival, the chairman of Mutual Assurance, Dr. Akin Ogunbiyi, in the opposition party primaries that took place on Saturday at the premises of GMT Hotel and Events Centre.
The senator, who represents Osun West senatorial district at the National Assembly, polled a total of 1,569 votes to defeat Ogunbiyi, who garnered 1,562.
At the first counting Ogunbiyi had scored 1,559 votes but his total votes increased to 1,562 when it was recounted.
Others who participated in the primary election were a former secretary to the Osun State Government, Alhaji Fatai Akinbade, who scored 52 votes, and Nathniel Oke (SAN), who got only three votes.
The number of void votes were 56.
PDP’s Adeleke and the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate, Alhaji Gboyega Oyetola, will be the major contenders for the governorship seat.
Before the commencement of the primary election, these aspirants, Professor Adeolu Durotoye, a former Minister of Youth Development; Olasunkanmi Akinlabi; Felix Ogunwale; Lere Oyewunmi, former Speaker of the Osun State House of Assembly Adejare Bello; and Ayoade Adewopo had announced their withdrawal from the exercise.
Bayelsa State Governor Seriake Dickson, who was the chairman of the Osun State PDP Governorship Electoral Panel, had assured the people that “this exercise will be free, fair, transparent and credible. The delegates will pick the candidate of the party. We won’t tamper with the wish of the people.”
The voting exercise came to an end at 7:30pm. Before then some hoodlums were said to have made efforts to force their way inside the venue, forcing security agents to fire tear gas canisters at them.
Adeleke had defeated Mudashiru Hussein of the APC in July 2017 to emerge the winner of the Osun West senatorial seat in a by-election conducted following a sudden death of late Senator Isiaka Adeleke, who happened to be the PDP candidate’s elder brother.
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