- Professor Joshua Olalekan Ogunwole declared Ademola Adeleke winner of the 2026 Osun governorship election at 7:24am on Sunday
- Ogunwole, the Vice Chancellor of the Federal University Oye-Ekiti, served as the State Returning Officer for the poll
- The professor has a distinguished academic career spanning several Nigerian universities and international research fellowships
A soil scientist and university administrator stepped into the national spotlight on August 16 when he formally returned Ademola Adeleke as governor of Osun State following the August 15 governorship election.
Professor Joshua Olalekan Ogunwole, the Vice Chancellor of the Federal University Oye-Ekiti (FUOYE), served as the State Returning Officer for the election and announced the final result at the state collation centre at about 7:24am.
Source: UGC
Adeleke, who ran on the Accord Party platform, secured 511,067 votes to beat All Progressives Congress candidate Bola Oyebamiji, who polled 444,815 votes. Adeleke won 19 of Osun’s 30 local government areas, while Oyebamiji carried 11. African Democratic Congress candidate Najeem Salaam finished third.
Ogunwole read out the declaration after agents of the participating parties had signed off on the results. “That Ademola Nurudeen-Jackson Adeleke, having satisfied the requirements of the law, is hereby declared the winner of the August 15 Governorship Election and returned elected,” he said.
Born in Ibadan, trained in Zaria
Ogunwole was born on July 23, 1967, in Ibadan, Oyo State, and traces his roots to Ogbomoso. He attended St Anne’s Primary Boarding School in Kakuri, Kaduna, and later Tafawa Balewa Memorial College in Samaru-Zonkwa. He completed his pre-university studies at the School of Basic Studies, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, where he subsequently earned his BSc in Agriculture and both his MSc and PhD in Soil Science.
Colleagues, students and mentees know him affectionately as “Coach.”
A career spanning continents
His academic journey has taken him through Ahmadu Bello University, Adamawa State University, Federal University Dutsin-Ma, Bowen University and FUOYE. He served as Vice Chancellor of Bowen University from 2018 to 2023 before taking up the position of Deputy Vice Chancellor for Strategic Partnerships, Research, Innovation and Linkages at FUOYE, a role that preceded his appointment as the institution’s Vice Chancellor.
Internationally, Ogunwole held a Fulbright Scholarship at Pennsylvania State University in the United States between 2009 and 2010, a TWAS Postdoctoral Fellowship in India, and an Alexander von Humboldt Fellowship at the University of Hannover in Germany. His research engagements have also taken him to Sri Lanka, Ethiopia, Italy, Ghana, Mali, Kenya and Tunisia.
His areas of research include soil science, carbon sequestration, environmental management, sustainable agriculture and climate adaptation. He is a Fellow of the African Scientific Institute and the Soil Science Society of Nigeria, and belongs to international bodies such as the Agronomy Society of America, the Soil Science Society of America and the International Union of Soil Science.
On Sunday, this record of academic accomplishment gave way briefly to electoral duty, as Ogunwole announced figures that will shape Osun State’s political direction for the next four years.
Four FUOYE scholars secure federal govt research grants
Legit.ng earlier reported that four scholars from the Federal University Oye-Ekiti (FUOYE) in Ekiti State have secured a total of ₦89.964 million in National Research Fund (NRF) grants.
The FUOYE scholars are to use the grant to undertake innovative research projects aimed at addressing critical national and global challenges.
Source: Legit.ng