BY: Sonaike Peter
Claim:
Ademola Adeleke, the incumbent governor of Osun State seeking a second term in office, is leading massively in 13 local government areas in the ongoing 2026 Osun State governorship election.
Verdict:
False.
Full Text
As voting continued in the 2026 Osun State governorship election on Saturday, August 15, 2026, a Facebook user identified as Ishola Akinremi claimed that incumbent Governor Ademola Adeleke was already leading in 13 local government areas.
“Breaking. Ademola Adeleke is leading massively in 13 local governments,” Akinremi wrote.
The post attracted reactions from Facebook users, some of whom questioned the source of the information and accused the user of circulating unverified election results.
Verification:
Findings by FactCheckAfrica show that the claim is false.
FactCheckAfrica checked the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) pages and found no official election results showing that Adeleke was leading in 13 local government areas at the time the claim was made.
FactCheckAfrica also reviewed reports from credible media organisations covering the election and found no independently verified results confirming the alleged lead.
At the time of verification, voting is still ongoing across Osun State. Live reports from the election showed that voters were still casting their ballots at polling units across the state.
The Facebook post also did not provide result sheets, polling-unit figures, collation documents, or any other verifiable evidence to support its claim.
Although unofficial figures may emerge from individual polling units or local areas during an election, they cannot be presented as an established lead across 13 local government areas before the relevant results have been collated and officially announced.
INEC is responsible for the official declaration of the governorship election result. Therefore, claiming that a candidate is already leading in 13 local government areas while voting and the official collation process are still ongoing is misleading and unsupported by verified evidence.
Conclusion:
The claim that Ademola Adeleke was leading massively in 13 local government areas in the ongoing Osun State governorship election is false.
At the time the claim was made, voting is still ongoing and no official results had been announced confirming that Adeleke was leading in 13 local government areas. The claim therefore presents an unverified election outcome as an established fact.
