The leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Osun State says Governor Ademola Adeleke may no longer seek the party’s ticket for the 2026 governorship election due to the lingering internal crisis within the party.
Speaking to journalists in Osogbo on Monday, December 1, the State Chairman of the PDP, Sunday Bisi, said the dispute among the party’s national leaders had disrupted key processes required for the conduct of the state’s governorship primary.
Bisi explained that Adeleke had met every requirement of the PDP’s timetable before the crisis deepened, including the purchase and submission of his nomination forms.
He said, “Governor Adeleke fully complied with all requirements set out in the PDP’s timetable for nomination, adding that he purchased and submitted the expression of interest and nomination forms within the stipulated window of October 13th to 25th, 2025, being the deadline for submission.”
According to Bisi, the governor also appeared before the party’s screening committee on October 30, where “he was screened and cleared without reservations, with the Certificate of Clearance issued to him in accordance with the party’s procedures.”
“However, soon after these pre-primary processes were concluded, the internal imbroglio rocking the national leadership of our party escalated,” Bisi said.
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He blamed the suspension and counter-suspension of key national officers for creating “a level of uncertainty that directly impacted the planned schedule,” including the ad-hoc ward and local government congresses originally fixed for November 24 and 29.
“These are the very congresses where delegates to the primaries are elected. As you are all aware, the issues leading to these disruptions are presently before various courts across the country,” he added.
Bisi said the situation had made it “inevitable, indeed unavoidable, that the PDP governorship primaries earlier slated for Tuesday, December 2nd, 2025, can no longer hold as scheduled.”
Explaining further, he disclosed, “Because of the internal crisis rocking the national leadership of our party, the information at my disposal is that Governor Ademola Adeleke may no longer be interested in seeking the nomination of the PDP for the 2026 Osun Gubernatorial Election, except a resolution recognised by INEC is reached within the INEC timeline.”
According to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) timetable, political parties fielding candidates for the August 8, 2026 Osun governorship election have until December 15, 2025, to submit their candidates’ names.
The PDP’s national crisis has split the party into rival factions, threatening its ability to field a unified candidate in the state election.