Governor Ademola Adeleke has used his fresh re-electiobhn victory in Osun State to renew his long-standing backing of President Bola Tinubu’s bid for a second term in 2027, thanking the President for what he described as a free and fair governorship election in the state.

Speaking to journalists in the aftermath of his win, Adeleke said he owed the President deep appreciation for ensuring the electoral process was credible, and used the moment to restate a position he has held consistently since defecting to the Accord Party. “I hereby reaffirm my earlier endorsement of him for a second term in the 2027 presidential election,” the governor said, tying the strength of the just-concluded poll directly to his continued political alignment with the presidency.

The remarks build on months of public support Adeleke has extended to Tinubu, whom he has previously described as the region’s “son, father and leader,” rooted in what he has framed as gratitude for federal infrastructure investment in Osun, including ongoing work on the Ibadan–Ile-Ife–Ilesa expressway. That backing persisted even through a tense pre-election period, during which the governor publicly disclosed that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission had briefly frozen the state government’s accounts, a development he said prompted a personal call from Tinubu assuring him of a free and fair contest.

Adeleke has maintained throughout that his support for the President transcends party lines, despite contesting the Osun governorship on a different platform from the APC.

His comments come just hours after INEC declared him winner of Saturday’s election, having polled 511,067 votes against APC candidate Bola Oyebamiji’s 444,815, a margin of 66,252 votes across the state’s 30 local government areas. Adeleke had earlier confirmed that Tinubu personally called to congratulate him even before the official declaration, a gesture the governor credited with reinforcing his trust in the President’s commitment to democratic norms. He continues to await a similar congratulatory call from Oyebamiji, who is yet to formally concede.

The renewed endorsement is likely to fuel further conversation around 2027 political alignments in the South-West, particularly given Adeleke’s unusual position as a governor who backs a presidential candidate from a rival party bloc, a stance he has defended repeatedly as being rooted in regional loyalty and development priorities rather than partisan calculation.