By MOROMOKE AKANJI

Gov. Ademola Adeleke of Osun has denied claims by the African Democratic Congress (ADC) that the party helped him win Saturday’s governorship election in the state.

Adeleke, in a statement by his spokesperson, Malam Olawale Rasheed, said he had no electoral deal or partnership with the ADC before, during or after the governorship election.

The governor attributed his victory to God and the people of the state, adding that the ADC was never part of the coalition that canvassed support for his re-election bid.

He commended political partners who made sacrifices to ensure that the aspirations of the people were realised.

“I commend political partners who went all out to make Saturday a victory day for all Osun people.

“But we must clarify, for the sake of history, that ADC was never part of the alliance.

“Now that the election is over, I am a governor of all Osun people, irrespective of political groups, religion or race,” he said.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that INEC, in the early hours of Sunday, declared Adeleke the winner after polling 511,067 votes to defeat his closest rival, Bola Oyebamiji of the All Progressives Congress (APC), who scored 444,815 votes.

The INEC Returning Officer, Prof. Joshua Ogunwole, who declared the results at the INEC collation centre, said the candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Najeem Salaam, came a distant third with 17,180 votes.

Ogunwole, Vice-Chancellor of the Federal University Oye-Ekiti, said the total valid votes cast were 985,079, while 20,721 votes were rejected, bringing the total number of votes cast to 1,005,800. (NAN)

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