Osun Poll: Accord Faction Withdraws Support for Adeleke, Backs APC
A factional leader of the Accord Party, Professor Christopher Imumolen, declared on Thursday that the party was withdrawing its support for Osun State Governor Ademola Adeleke and throwing its backing behind APC governorship candidate Bola Oyebamiji, though the party’s INEC-recognised leadership swiftly rejected the declaration as illegitimate, insisting Adeleke remains its sole candidate for Saturday’s election.
Imumolen, who identifies himself as the Accord Party’s National Chairman, made the announcement at the APC’s Osun State governorship mega rally in Osogbo, telling the crowd that the party’s National Working Committee had resolved to support Oyebamiji, popularly known as AMBO. Declaring that Accord had stepped down its support for Adeleke, Imumolen urged party members across the state to vote for Oyebamiji and the APC in Saturday’s election, and symbolically swapped the yellow cap associated with Accord in the state for one bearing APC colours. Senate President Godswill Akpabio, who represented President Bola Tinubu at the rally, told the crowd that Accord had “thrown in the towel” and thrown its support behind the APC.
However, the Accord Party leadership recognised by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), led by National Chairman Maxwell Mgbudem, moved quickly to dismiss the declaration. In a statement issued the same day, the party described Imumolen as a “political hireling and hustler” with no political structure capable of influencing Saturday’s outcome, and reaffirmed that Governor Adeleke remains the party’s only recognised candidate for the Osun governorship election. The party’s Osun State chapter, in a separate statement signed by its state chairman, Victor Akande, went further still, branding Imumolen an “impersonator” who does not represent Accord’s leadership and urging voters to disregard his declaration entirely.
According to reports, Imumolen is Accord’s expelled former 2023 presidential candidate and factional National Chairman, a status that places his declaration at the centre of a longstanding internal leadership dispute within the party rather than representing the position of its INEC-recognised structure. The Adeleke camp’s Imole Campaign Council also dismissed the endorsement, with spokesperson Pelumi Olajengbesi confirming that the officially recognised Accord leadership remains committed to the governor’s re-election bid.
Accord’s INEC-recognised leadership further alleged that the APC, fearing electoral defeat, had resorted to violence, harassment, and intimidation, as well as the use of federal institutions including the police and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), to suppress the Osun state government, residents, and Accord party members, allegations the ruling party has not directly addressed in this context.
The controversy adds another flashpoint to an already tense election period in Osun State, which has also seen a senator summoned by police over inflammatory remarks and the state government’s salary account frozen by the EFCC in the days leading up to Saturday’s poll. With both camps now trading claims over Accord’s true leadership and allegiance, the dispute is likely to remain a point of contention as voters head to the polls on August 15.
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