The Osun State Chairman of the Accord Party, Pastor Victor Akande, has dismissed reports of a purported parallel governorship primary allegedly conducted in the name of the party.
Akande, who spoke in a statement issued on Monday, also described the exercise as illegal and misleading.
The Osun Accord Party chairman made this clarification during a press conference held in Osogbo, where he accused unknown individuals of impersonating members of the Accord to undermine the party’s electoral process.
He stated that those parading themselves as organisers of the alleged exercise were not recognised members of the party, insisting that their actions amounted to political mischief and electoral sabotage.
According to him, one of the individuals mentioned in connection with the purported primary, Fanibe, had been expelled from the Accord since 2018 over alleged fraud and acts inimical to the party’s unity and discipline.
“Such a character or any other in his shoes, therefore, possesses no authority whatsoever, moral, political, or legal, to convene, announce, or participate in any activity conducted in the name of the Accord,” Akande said.
The party chairman alleged that those behind the purported exercise were affiliates of the All Progressives Congress, APC, acting as proxies to destabilise the Accord and weaken the lawful candidacy of Governor Ademola Jackson Nurudeen Adeleke.
He declared that Governor Ademola Adeleke remained the duly nominated and legally recognised governorship candidate of the Accord in Osun State, having emerged through a valid primary conducted in line with the party constitution and the Electoral Act 2022.
“Let me state with absolute finality that Governor Ademola Jackson Nurudeen Adeleke is the duly nominated and lawful governorship candidate of the Accord in Osun State,” Akande said.
He warned that any primary conducted without due notice to the Independent National Electoral Commission and outside the recognised party structure was illegal, null, and void.
Akande cautioned that individuals parading themselves as Accord candidates without lawful nomination were liable to prosecution for impersonation and electoral fraud under relevant laws.
The party also placed security agencies on notice, stating that any gathering or congress conducted in the name of the Accord outside its recognised structure constituted an illegal assembly.
He expressed concern over the conduct of the Osun State Command of the Nigeria Police Force, alleging that it declined to receive formal notice warning against the purported exercise but later deployed officers to the gathering.
“It is surprising that the same police command found it convenient to deploy its officers to such a gathering called by these unscrupulous elements,” Akande said.
He added that the party was prepared to seek judicial redress and report any legal practitioner involved in the alleged impersonation to appropriate professional bodies.
Akande reiterated that Adeleke was the sole and legally recognised governorship candidate of the Accord, insisting that no parallel structure could alter the party’s legal position.
Reacting, the Osun State Public Relations Officer of INEC, Musa Olurode, said the commission was unaware of any parallel Accord primary in the state.
“We monitored the Accord Party primary held a few days ago, and our report has already been filed. INEC has no knowledge of any other primary by the party,” Olurode said.
“The officially recognised Accord Party governorship primary was held last Wednesday in Osogbo and produced Governor Ademola Adeleke as the party’s candidate. According to Abdulazeez Salaudeen, Secretary of the party’s electoral committee, Adeleke secured 145 votes from the 150 accredited delegates, while five votes were voided.
A faction of the Accord Party in Osun State has produced Clement Bamigbola as its governorship candidate for the 2026 governorship election.
This development is coming four days after Governor Ademola Adeleke emerged as the party’s flagbearer from another primary.
Bamigbola’s emergence followed a parallel governorship primary conducted on Sunday in Osogbo by the faction, which rejected the earlier exercise that produced Adeleke under the leadership of Maxwell Mgbudem.
The faction had earlier argued that Mgbudem was not a legally recognised national chairman of the party, insisting that the primary which produced Adeleke lacked legitimacy.
Announcing the outcome, the chairman of the electoral committee, Olufemi Ogundare, declared that “the process was valid and that Bamigbola had been duly elected as the faction’s candidate for the 2026 poll.
