 He was a member of SDP the dominant party in the state.The front runner was a lawyer, Oladipo Oladosu but after a close primary in which Adeleke came second, Adeleke was able to win a runoff.He was then elected the first civilian governor of Osun State in 1992. Notable decisions made by Adeleke was the establishment of a polytechnic at Iree, a college of technology at Esa-Oke and the completion of the Osun State Broadcasting Corporation.