On Sunday morning, the Independent National Electoral Commission declared Ademola Adeleke the Governor-Elect of Osun State after scoring a majority of votes cast in the governorship election in the state.
The victory came for Adeleke nearly four years after failing by a small margin in his bid to govern Osun State.
On Saturday, Adeleke polled 403,371 votes to defeat his closest rival, the incumbent governor of the state, Gboyega Oyetola, who polled 375,027 votes.
Here are things to know about Ademola Adeleke, as profiled by Punch:
Ademola Adeleke was born on May 13, 1960, in Ede, Osun State. He hails from a popular and influential family from Ede in Ede Local Government Area.
His mother is an Igbo-Christian named Nnena Esther Adeleke, while his father is a Muslim named Raji Ayoola Adeleke.
Adedeji Adeleke, a Nigerian billionaire, business magnate and president of Adeleke University and the late Mr Isiaka Adeleke are Ademola’s elder brothers. He is the third and final child of his parents.
He became popular in politics after the demise of his brother, Isiaka Adeleke, who served as a senator for Osun-West.
After the death of his elder brother on April 23, 2017, Ademola filled Isiaka’s vacancy in the Senate, popularly called the “dancing senator”, Ademola Adeleke served as a senator for the Osun West Senatorial District between 2017 and 2019.
Adeleke started his elementary education at Methodist Primary School in Surulere, Lagos State, and later transferred to Nawarudeen Primary School in Ikire.
He went further at Ede Muslim Grammar School Ede, completing his secondary education before moving to the US to join his two elder brothers.
According to Adeleke, he attended Jacksonville State University, Alabama, in the United States, where he studied criminal justice and political science.
He later enrolled at Atlanta Metropolitan State College, where he bagged a Bachelor of Science in criminal justice in 2021.
Adeleke served as the executive director of Pacific Holdings Limited’s from 2001 to 2016; and later as a service contractor for Quicksilver Courier Company in Atlanta, Georgia, the United States.
He was the vice president of Origin International LLC, a flavour and fragrance manufacturing company in Atlanta, Georgia, US from 1990 to 1994.
Adeleke was accused of faking his secondary school testimonial and WAEC results in the build-up to his governorship election four years ago. However, the court dismissed the case.
The dancing senator is an uncle to Davido, a well-known Nigerian singer.
