Officials and agents of the All Progressives Congress (APC) were absent during the final collation of results of the Osun governorship election at the INEC headquarters in Osogbo, the Osun State capital, on Sunday morning, an indication that the party knew it had lost the election and was less concerned about the final declaration of results.

Saturday’s election, which began in some polling units as early as 8 a.m., continued until 6 p.m. in some areas, while voting extended to 7 p.m. in others.

PREMIUM TIMES reporters, who monitored the election across the 30 local government areas of the state, observed that party agents, including those of the APC, were present at polling units and local government collation centres, where results were collated before being moved to the Osun State office of INEC for the final collation.

However, when INEC commenced the final announcement of the results at its headquarters in Osogbo, none of the APC agents was present, unlike agents of other political parties.

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The absence of the APC officials may not be unconnected with the party’s assessment of the outcome of the election, which appeared unfavourable to its candidate, Bola Oyebamiji. However, the party has yet to give an official reason for its absence.

Meanwhile, as of 6 a.m., the announcement of results had been concluded, with Ademola Adeleke of the Accord Party leading the race with more than 60,000 votes after the announcement of results from the 30 LGAs in the state,

Mr Adeleke’s supporters were seen jubilating outside the INEC office, while the deputy governor, Kola Adewusi, was seated inside the hall observing the collation process.

As of the time of filing this report, the returning officer for the election, Joshua Ogunwole, was yet to formally declare Mr Adeleke the winner of the election.