Incumbent governor of Ondo State, Arakunrin Rotimi Akeredolu of the All Progressives Party (APC) has been re-elected for a second term of four years in office. He won convincingly by defeating his main challenger Mr. Eyitayo Jegede of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), in 15 of the 18 local governments of the State.

Governor Akeredolu polled 292,830 votes, while Mr Eyitayo Jegede of the Peoples Democratic Party polled 195,791 votes while Mr Agboola Ajayi of the Zenith Labour Party came a distant third by polling 69,127 votes.

He was declared winner of the election by Professor Olayinka the Vice Chancellor of the University of Ibadan who was the Chief Returning Officer appointed by INEC for the election. “Having satisfied the requirement of the law and scored the highest number of votes, I hereby declare Oluwarotimi Odunayo Akeredolu of the APC as the winner, and he is hereby returned elected,” said the Chief Returning Officer for the election.

The Ondo governorship election was adjudged an improvement on the previous Edo governorship election by Civil Society Organisations and some accredited election observers. Election materials were delivered on time, voting commenced on time and the general conduct was peaceful despite flashes of violence here and there.

For Mr. Eyitayo Jegede and the PDP, this is a back to back defeat. It is the second time the governor is defeating the PDP candidate. In 2016, Rotimi Akeredolu, defeated Jegede to win his first term as governor. The new governorship term begins February 24, 2021.

Governor Akeredolu won the following 15 local governments Ile-Oluji/Oke-Igbo, Irele, Akoko Southwest, Akoko Northeast, Akoko Northwest, Ondo East, Owo, Idanre, Akoko Southeast, Akure South, Ondo West, Ose, Ese-Odo and Ilaje.

His main rival Eyitayo Jegede won in three local governments of Ifedore, Akure North and Akure South while Mr. Agboola Ajayi of Zenith Labour Party could not win a single local government.

Two major setbacks in the election were the non-compliance with COVID protocols and the predominance of vote-buying and selling. The cost of a vote ranged between N2,000.00 and N7,000.00

The election also defied all predictions of massive violence during the voting exercise on Saturday. The electioneering campaign was characterised by violence leading to accusations and counter accusations among the leading political parties.

Though 17 political parties indicated interest and fielded candidates for the election, almost all of the remaining 14 political parties and their candidates withdrew from the race and endorsed either Governor Akeredolu or Eyitayo Jegede.

The summary of the election results as released by INEC for the top three political parties is as follows:
Odigbo LGA
APC – 23,571
PDP – 9485
ZLP – 6540

Ose LGA
APC – 15,122
PDP -8421
ZLP – 1083

Ondo West Local Government
APC- 15,977
PDP- 10,627
ZLP – 10,159

Okitipupa Local Government
APC- 19,266
PDP- 10,367
ZLP – 10,120

Ose Local Government Area
APC – 15,122
PDP – 8,421
ZLP – 1,083

Akure South LGA
APC – 17,277
PDP – 47,627
ZLP – 2,236

Akoko South East
APC – 9,419
PDP – 4,003
ZLP – 2,004

Idanre LGA
APC -11,286
PDP – 7,499
ZLP – 3,623

Owo LGA
APC – 35957
PDP – 5311
ZLP – 408

Akure North LGA
APC – 9546
PDP – 12263
ZLP – 1,046

Ondo East LGA
APC – 6485
PDP – 4049
ZLP – 3,221

Akoko North West
APC- 15,809
PDP- 10,320
ZLP – 3,477

Akoko South East
APC – 21,232
PDP – 15,055
ZLP – 2,775

Akoko North East
APC – 16,572
PDP – 8,380
ZLP – 3,532

Irele LGA
APC – 12,643
PDP – 5,493
ZLP – 5,904

Ile Oluji Oke Igbo LGA
APC – 13,278
PDP – 9,231
ZLP – 1,971

Ifedore LGA
APC – 9,350
PDP – 11,852
ZLP – 1863

Ilaje LGA
APC – 23,528
PDP – 9222
ZLP – 3,177