The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in Osun State has said it was not informed of another primary reportedly conducted by a faction of the Accord Party in the state.
A faction of the Accord Party in Osun on Sunday reportedly held a primary election that produced Clement Bamigbola as its candidate for the August 8, 2026 governorship poll.
The exercise, held in Osogbo, the state capital, began with the accreditation of delegates. A large contingent of armed police operatives was also observed around the venue.
Bamigbola, the only aspirant presented to delegates, confirmed his emergence. “It is true. We had our primary, and I emerged the consensus candidate,” he told The PUNCH.
However, INEC’s Public Relations Officer in the state, Musa Olurode, said the commission was unaware of the parallel exercise.
“We have monitored the only Accord Party primary a few days ago. The report has been submitted. INEC is not aware of any other party’s primary,” Olurode said.
The PUNCH reports that Osun State Governor, Ademola Adeleke, last Wednesday emerged as the Accord Party candidate for next year’s poll. Adeleke was the only aspirant in that primary, also held in Osogbo.
Announcing the result, Abdulazeez Salaudeen, Secretary of the electoral committee that conducted the primary, said Adeleke polled 145 votes out of 150 delegates drawn from the state’s 30 local government areas. Five votes were voided.
“The electoral committee has delivered on its mandate. After voting and counting witnessed by the agents of the candidate and the officials of the Independent National Electoral Commission, having the highest number of votes, I declare Senator Nurudeen Ademola Adeleke as the winner of the primary,” Salaudeen said.
Reacting to the factional primary, the caretaker Chairman of Accord Party in Osun State, Babalola Akande, said those who organised the exercise are not recognised by the party.
Addressing journalists in Osogbo on Sunday, Akande reiterated that Adeleke remains the duly nominated and lawful governorship candidate of the Accord Party in the state.
He said the position is “incontestable, irreversible, and firmly grounded in law, having emerged through due process in accordance with the Constitution of the Accord, the Electoral Act 2022, and established judicial precedents.”
Akande urged Osun residents to ignore what he described as “distractions” from “politically displaced actors” trying to return to power through “impersonation, falsehood, and institutional sabotage.”
He noted that those behind the factional primary include a legal practitioner and said the party would “report him to the appropriate authorities, including the LPDC.”
Akande warned that any institution that recognises the faction would do so “at its own legal peril,” and that the Accord Party would pursue judicial intervention to protect its internal democracy and the sanctity of the ballot.
“For the final time, and for the sake of emphasis, by virtue of the valid primary election lawfully conducted on Wednesday, 10th December 2025, Governor Ademola Jackson Nurudeen Adeleke is the sole and legally recognised governorship candidate of the Accord in Osun State. No parallel structure, no impersonator, and no contrived spectacle can alter this legal reality.”
Punch/By Olaolu Fawole, Volunteer Editor
