BY: Mustapha Lawal
Claim:
A viral post claims that Prof. Joshua Olalekan Ogunwole, the Returning Officer for the 2026 Osun State Governorship Election, was arrested and detained by security agencies in Abuja after declaring Governor Ademola Adeleke winner of the election.
FALSE CLAIM
Verdict: FALSE!
Full Text:
A claim that the Returning Officer for the 2026 Osun State Governorship Election, Prof. Joshua Olalekan Ogunwole, was arrested and detained in Abuja after announcing the election result has circulated on Facebook and WhatsApp.
FALSE CLAIM
The claim emerged days after Ogunwole, the Vice-Chancellor of the Federal University Oye-Ekiti (FUOYE), declared the incumbent governor, Ademola Adeleke of the Accord Party, winner of the August 15 governorship election.
A Facebook post circulating with the claim alleged that Ogunwole was arrested in Abuja by security agencies and detained “under controversial circumstances.” It further claimed that he was being held under duress and forced to write statements implicating himself in the conduct of the Osun election.
The post also alleged that the professor had been denied access to a lawyer and was being held incommunicado.
The claim is significant because Ogunwole was the official who announced the final result of the election, declaring Adeleke winner with 511,067 votes against 444,815 votes recorded by the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate, Bola Oyebamiji.
Given the sensitive nature of the allegation and its potential to fuel claims of interference with the electoral process, FactCheckAfrica examined the claim and searched for credible evidence of the alleged arrest.
Verification:
FactCheckAfrica conducted keyword searches across available news reports for information on the alleged arrest and detention of Ogunwole in Abuja. The searches did not produce any credible report from the police, a security agency or reputable news organisation confirming that the professor had been arrested or detained.
More importantly, the management of the Federal University Oye-Ekiti has expressly denied the allegation.
In a statement issued on August 19, 2026, FUOYE’s Director of Communications and Public Affairs, Dr Sunday Saanu, described the reports as “entirely false, baseless, and deliberately fabricated.” The university said Ogunwole had neither been arrested, detained nor invited by the police or any other security agency.
The university confirmed that Ogunwole had indeed travelled to Abuja after the election, but explained that his trip was for official university business and was unrelated to his role in the Osun election.
According to FUOYE, the Vice-Chancellor left Oye-Ekiti for Abuja on Monday, following the election, to attend to “critical administrative and institutional matters affecting the university.” The university maintained that he remained free and continued to perform his official duties.
The claim that Ogunwole was arrested therefore appears to have conflated two separate facts: his travel to Abuja after the election and the unsubstantiated allegation that he was taken into custody.
What happened to the Returning Officer after the election?
Ogunwole served as the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) Returning Officer for the Osun governorship election and formally declared Adeleke the winner after the final collation of results.
Multiple reports published after the declaration identified him as the Vice-Chancellor of FUOYE and the official who announced the final result.
There is no evidence in the sources reviewed by FactCheckAfrica that he was subsequently arrested, detained or interrogated by security agencies in connection with the election.
The university’s statement also directly contradicts the allegation that he was being held incommunicado or forced to make statements concerning the election. FUOYE said Ogunwole remained free and actively engaged in his responsibilities as Vice-Chancellor.
Conclusion:
There is no credible evidence that Prof. Joshua Olalekan Ogunwole, the Returning Officer for the 2026 Osun State Governorship Election, was arrested or detained in Abuja after declaring Ademola Adeleke the winner.
While FUOYE confirmed that Ogunwole travelled to Abuja after the election, the university said he went there for official university duties and was neither arrested, detained nor invited by any security agency. The allegation that he was being held under duress and forced to write statements about the Osun election is therefore unsupported by available evidence.
