FACT-CHECK: Claim that APC Candidate Is Leading in Osun State Governorship Election Is False!
By: Sonaike Peter
Claim:
A viral graphic claimed that Asiwaju Munirudeen Bola Oyebamiji, the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate in the ongoing Osun State governorship election, was leading with 45,456 votes, while his opponents, Ademola Adeleke and Hon. Dr. Najeem Folasayo Salaam, had polled 44,136 and 1,300 votes respectively.
Verdict:
False.
Full Text:
A graphic alleging that the APC candidate was leading in the ongoing Osun State governorship election went viral on Saturday, August 15, 2026, around 3 p.m.
The election results were contained in a Facebook post published by The CyberProf International.
As of the time of filing this report, the post had garnered about 1,200 reactions, with some Facebook users questioning the veracity of the lead.
Verification:
Findings by FactCheckAfrica revealed that the claim is false.
FactCheckAfrica checked the official Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) website for the Osun State governorship election but found no official statewide result confirming that Oyebamiji was leading with 45,456 votes.
FactCheckAfrica also observed that INEC’s latest post on X, formerly referred to as Twitter, was about the supervision of the election by National Commissioners, Prof. Kunle Ajayi and Dr. Kenneth Ukeagu at Registration Area 01, Ede South Local Government Area.
Meanwhile, BusinessDay had reported Oyebamiji was taking an early lead based on results from 508 polling units, recording 45,456 votes against 44,136 votes for Adeleke and 1,300 votes for Najeem Salaam. However, the report clarified that the figures were released by the APC situation room, rather than by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
Although credible media outlets reported results from some polling units as voting and collation continued, INEC had not announced or declared the final statewide result as of the time of filing this report.
Conclusion:
The claim that APC candidate Asiwaju Munirudeen Bola Oyebamiji was leading the Osun State governorship election with 45,456 votes is false and misleading.
The figure of 45,456 votes was reportedly based on results from 508 polling units released by the APC situation room and was also reported by BusinessDay.
Only the Independent National Electoral Commission is vested with the authority to announce credible election results.
