OSOGBO, NIGERIA — When Professor Joshua Olalekan Ogunwole stepped up to the podium at the INEC state collation centre in Osogbo on Sunday morning, he was not performing his usual duties as Vice-Chancellor of the Federal University Oye-Ekiti. Instead, the respected soil scientist was fulfilling a crucial electoral responsibility as the State Returning Officer for the Osun governorship election .
At precisely 7:24 am, Professor Ogunwole formally announced that Governor Ademola Adeleke of the Accord Party had secured re-election, polling 511,067 votes to defeat his closest challenger, Bola Oyebamiji of the All Progressives Congress, who scored 444,815 votes . “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,” Ogunwole declared .
Born on July 23, 1967, in Ibadan, Oyo State, and hailing from Ogbomoso, Professor Ogunwole is fondly called “Coach” by his students and colleagues . He began his educational journey at St Anne’s Primary Boarding School, Kakuri, Kaduna, before proceeding to Tafawa Balewa Memorial College, Samaru-Zonkwa, and the School of Basic Studies at Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria .
A distinguished soil scientist, Ogunwole holds a BSc in Agriculture, as well as MSc and PhD degrees in Soil Science from Ahmadu Bello University . His academic career has taken him through several Nigerian universities, including Ahmadu Bello University, Adamawa State University, Federal University Dutsin-Ma, Bowen University, and the Federal University Oye-Ekiti .
Before assuming the position of FUOYE’s fifth substantive Vice-Chancellor on February 11, 2026, following a transparent and highly competitive selection process, he served as the university’s Deputy Vice-Chancellor in charge of Strategic Partnerships, Research, Innovation and Linkages . He had previously served as Vice-Chancellor of Bowen University between 2018 and 2023 .
Ogunwole boasts extensive international academic experience, having been a Fulbright Scholar at Pennsylvania State University in the United States, a TWAS Postdoctoral Fellow in India, and an Alexander von Humboldt Fellow at the University of Hannover, Germany . His research interests span soil science, environmental management, carbon sequestration, sustainable agriculture, and climate adaptation .
A Fellow of the African Scientific Institute and the Soil Science Society of Nigeria, he also belongs to international professional bodies including the Agronomy Society of America, Soil Science Society of America, and the International Union of Soil Science . He has published extensively in local and international journals and has supervised numerous postgraduate students .
As the returning officer, Ogunwole was responsible for formally announcing the aggregate result after all local government collation had been completed. Adeleke won 19 of Osun’s 30 local government areas, while Oyebamiji won 11 . The declaration marked the conclusion of an election described as one of Nigeria’s most closely watched off-cycle polls, with Ogunwole serving as the impartial arbiter of the people’s will .
