Ademola Adeleke, the younger brother of Nigerian business tycoon Adedeji “Deji” Adeleke and uncle of Afrobeats superstar Davido, won Saturday’s governorship election after switching parties just months before the vote.
Nigeria’s Independent National Electoral Commission declared Adeleke the winner as the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), led by President Bola Tinubu, pushes to expand its control across states ahead of the 2027 general election.
According to election data reviewed by Business Insider Africa, Adeleke secured 511,067 votes, or about 50.8% of ballots cast, ahead of APC candidate Bola Oyebamiji with 444,815 votes and African Democratic Congress candidate Najeem Salam with 17,180.
The result underscores the limits of the country’s ruling party’s national dominance ahead of the 2027 general election while preserving the Adeleke family’s political foothold in Osun.
Gold and investment shape Osun’s economic stakes
Osun, a southwestern Nigerian state nearly three times the size of Delaware, had an economy estimated at about ₦2.3 trillion ($5.7 billion) in 2021, according to BudgIT’s state-level GDP estimates, placing it among Nigeria’s smaller state economies.
More recent comparable GDP figures are limited, but the state has continued to court investment in mining, infrastructure and agriculture.
Gold is central to that push, with Osun lying within the Ilesha Schist Belt and hosting Segilola, Nigeria’s first large-scale gold mine, which produced 91,910 ounces in 2025.
Official 2019 data showed Osun accounted for 42.56% of Nigeria’s recorded gold production, the largest share at the time, ahead of Niger State at 27.8%.
Adeleke’s administration has since moved to revive the state’s shareholding arrangement in Segilola while seeking more mining investment.
Beyond gold, Osun has deposits of talc, feldspar, granite, kaolin and tantalum, although gold remains its standout mineral asset.
In February, the governor took that investment pitch to the Mining Indaba in Cape Town, telling investors that Osun had streamlined approvals and cut some processing times by more than half to turn mineral resources into jobs and higher internally generated revenue.
Adeleke family spans business, education and entertainment
Beyond politics, the Adeleke family has built a broad footprint across business, education and entertainment, giving it influence that extends well beyond Osun State.
At the centre of the family’s business interests is Deji Adeleke, chairman of Pacific Holdings Limited, a privately held conglomerate with interests in energy, education, civil engineering, agriculture and real estate.
His business career began with Pacific Drilling Company in 1983 before the interests were consolidated under Pacific Holdings.
Through Pacific Energy, the group operates the 335MW Omotosho and 335MW Olorunsogo power plants, with one 2025 estimate valuing Pacific Energy at about $1.4 billion.
The group has also completed a reported $2 billion, 1,250MW power project at Ajebamidele in Ondo State.
Adeleke said in 2025 that the project was awaiting a gas connection and could employ more than 2,000 workers once operational.
Beyond energy, the family’s interests extend into higher education through Adeleke University, a private institution in southwestern Nigeria that Deji Adeleke founded in 2011 through his Springtime Development Foundation.
His exact wealth has not been assessed by Forbes or Bloomberg, partly because Pacific Holdings is privately held and discloses limited financial information, making his billionaire status difficult to verify.
Meanwhile, Business Insider Africa is working on an interview with a member of the Adeleke family to examine its business empire, investment strategy and the scale of its holdings.
Davido extends the family’s reach across Africa
The family’s influence also stretches into Africa’s entertainment industry through Deji Adeleke’s son, David Adeleke, better known as Davido, one of the continent’s biggest music exports.
Davido’s backing added celebrity weight to the governorship race and expanded the family’s visibility beyond business and politics.
Ultimately, Ademola Adeleke’s second-term victory preserves the family’s political influence while keeping one of Nigeria’s most prominent business and entertainment dynasties closely tied to the leadership of a gold-rich state with growing mining and investment ambitions.
