The outcome of the August 15 governorship election in Irewole Local Government Area of Osun State has highlighted the strong electoral showing of the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate, Asiwaju Munirudeen Bola Oyebamiji, popularly known as AMBO, in his hometown of Ikire.
Oyebamiji secured 29,972 votes for the APC, defeating the Accord Party, which polled 10,934 votes in the local government. The result gave the APC a margin of 19,038 votes.
The result is particularly significant because Ikire is also the hometown of Senator Lere Oyewumi, Director-General of the Ademola Adeleke Campaign Council and Deputy Minority Leader of the Senate.
Oyewumi had been one of the prominent figures campaigning for Governor Ademola Adeleke and against Oyebamiji’s emergence as the APC candidate. However, the final result showed a decisive victory for Oyebamiji in Irewole.
The APC candidate reportedly won all 11 wards in the local government, including Ward 9, where Oyewumi is an indigene. Oyebamiji secured 75.1 per cent of the votes recorded in the ward.
The latest result also continues a pattern seen in previous governorship elections in Irewole.
In the 2022 governorship election, the APC secured 18,198 votes in the local government, while the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) polled 14,216 votes, giving the APC a margin of 3,982 votes.
Similarly, in the 2014 governorship election, when Oyewumi served as Director-General of the campaign of the PDP candidate, Otunba Iyiola Omisore, the APC defeated the PDP in Irewole. The APC recorded 18,328 votes against the PDP’s 10,330, representing a margin of 7,998 votes.
Oyewumi, who previously served as chairman of Irewole Local Government, has remained a major political figure in Ikire. His influence in the area, however, has come under scrutiny following successive electoral outcomes in which his preferred candidates have struggled to secure victory in the local government.
In the 2023 senatorial election, Oyewumi won the Osun East Senatorial District seat, with significant support from Ede, the hometown of Governor Ademola Adeleke.
Ahead of the 2026 governorship election, Oyewumi also promoted the “Konko Jabele” political movement, which encouraged indigenes to place political affiliation ahead of what he described as community interests.
Despite the political contest and Oyewumi’s opposition to Oyebamiji’s candidacy, the APC candidate secured a commanding victory in Irewole, strengthening his position as a major political force in the area.
The outcome could also have implications for the 2027 senatorial election, when Oyewumi is expected to seek another term in the Senate. The extent to which the voting pattern witnessed in the 2026 governorship election will be repeated in subsequent elections could determine the strength of his political support base in Ikire and the wider senatorial district.
