Ondo, in the south-east of Yorubaland with a coastline in the oil-producing Ilaje area, has had five governors since 1999 from four parties. A court ruling in 2009 moved it off-cycle, so it now votes for governor in the November after each general election, a year and a half later than most states.
1999 and 2003: Adefarati loses
Adebayo Adefarati, a veteran of Obafemi Awolowo’s Action Group tradition, won the January 1999 election for the Alliance for Democracy with 328,053 votes. In April 2003 he was swept out with the AD across the South-West. The PDP’s Olusegun Agagu, a former deputy governor and federal minister, took 655,968 votes to Adefarati’s 233,900.
2007 to 2009: Mimiko wins in court
Agagu was declared re-elected in April 2007 with 349,258 votes against 226,051 for Olusegun Mimiko of the Labour Party, a doctor and former federal housing minister who had left the PDP. Mimiko challenged the result. In August 2008 the election tribunal ruled that he had won, the Court of Appeal agreed in February 2009, and he was sworn in on 24 February 2009, the first Labour Party governor in Nigeria. His term ran from that date, and Ondo has voted off-cycle ever since. Agagu died in 2013.
2012: Labour holds on
On 20 October 2012 Mimiko became the first Labour Party governor to be re-elected, with 260,199 votes (43.8%). The PDP’s Olusola Oke came second with 155,961, and the ACN’s Rotimi Akeredolu, a former president of the Nigerian Bar Association, third. Mimiko later joined the PDP, in 2014.
2016 and 2020: Akeredolu
Akeredolu won a disputed APC primary in 2016 and the election of 26 November 2016 with 224,842 votes against 150,380 for the PDP’s Eyitayo Jegede, a former attorney-general of the state. In 2020 his deputy, Agboola Ajayi, fell out with him and ran against him for the Zenith Labour Party. Akeredolu was re-elected on 10 October 2020 with 292,830 votes (51.1%), against 195,791 for Jegede and 69,127 for Ajayi.
Akeredolu, who chaired the South-West governors and championed the regional Amotekun security network, was ill for much of 2023 and spent months abroad. He died on 27 December 2023, and his deputy, Lucky Orimisan Aiyedatiwa, was sworn in the same day.
2024: Aiyedatiwa’s landslide
Aiyedatiwa won the APC ticket and the election of 16 November 2024 with 366,781 votes, about 72% of the total, and carried all 18 local governments. Agboola Ajayi, now the PDP candidate, came second with 117,845.
The results at a glance
| Year | Winner (party) | Votes | Runner-up (party) | Votes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1999 | Adebayo Adefarati (AD) | 328,053 | PDP candidate | not published |
| 2003 | Olusegun Agagu (PDP) | 655,968 | Adebayo Adefarati (AD) | 233,900 |
| 2007 | Olusegun Agagu (PDP); overturned for Mimiko in 2009 | 349,258 | Olusegun Mimiko (LP) | 226,051 |
| 2012 | Olusegun Mimiko (LP) | 260,199 | Olusola Oke (PDP) | 155,961 |
| 2016 | Rotimi Akeredolu (APC) | 224,842 | Eyitayo Jegede (PDP) | 150,380 |
| 2020 | Rotimi Akeredolu (APC) | 292,830 | Eyitayo Jegede (PDP) | 195,791 |
| 2024 | Lucky Aiyedatiwa (APC) | 366,781 | Agboola Ajayi (PDP) | 117,845 |
What comes next
Ondo does not elect a governor in the February 2027 general elections. Aiyedatiwa’s term runs to February 2029, and the next governorship election is due in late 2028.
