Senator representing Osun west, Ademola Adeleke, has won the governorship ticket of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in his state.
The senator defeated his closest challenger, Akin Ogunbiyi, to emerge the flagbearer of the PDP in the September 22 governorship election.
Adeleke won by a close margin, securing 1569 votes while Ogunbiyi had 1562.
Seven of the 11 aspirants in the primary election withdrew early on Saturday when the exercise commenced.
Gov. Seriake Dickson of Bayelsa State, who is the Chairman of the election panel said Adeleke scored 1,569 votes while his closest rival, Akin Ogunbiyi, the Chief Executive Officer of Mutual Benefit Assurance, scored 1,562 votes.
Alhaji Fatai Akinbade, a former Secretary to the State Government, scored 56 votes while Mr Nathaniel Oke, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) scored 3 votes.
Dickson said the expected delegates were 3,448 while accredited delegates who participated in the election were 3,246.
He said 56 votes were voided, adding that any aspirant who is not satisfied with the result can appeal to the National Working Committee of the party.
Dickson, who described the primary as a family contest, urged the other three contestants to support Adeleke for the party to win the election, adding that there was no loser in the election.
“This exercise is a brotherly contest. A contest of brothers of the same family. This exercise is a beginning of a long journey and we must join hands together to win the election”.
Adeleke, who won the Senatorial election on July 9, 2017, after the demise of his brother Isiaka Adeleke, will contend with Gboyega Oyetola, who emerged as the state governorship candidate on the platform of All Progressives Congress (APC) and Senator Iyiola Omisore, a former PDP stalwart, who is now the candidate of the Social Democratic Party, SDP.
Late Isiaka Adeleke, was representing Osun West Senatorial Distrist at the Senate before his death on April 23, 2017.
Oyetola, who is Gov. Aregbesola’s Chief of Staff, scored 127,017 votes to clinch the APC ticket..