The national leadership of the Accord Party has accused opposition politicians in Osun State of conspiring to disrupt its stability by organizing what it called a “fake and illegal” primary election intended to hijack the party’s structure ahead of the 2026 governorship race.
The accusation came after a faction within the party reportedly held a parallel primary in Osogbo on Sunday, December 14, where Bamigbola Clement was announced as its candidate for next year’s governorship poll.
The event, which was heavily policed, allegedly produced Clement as a “consensus candidate.”
In a statement released in Abuja on Monday, December 15, the party’s National Publicity Secretary, Joseph Omorogbe, dismissed the exercise as a political farce.
“Those behind the exercise were sponsored by some opposition figures in the state who are jittery over the emergence of the action governor of Osun State, His Excellency Ademola Adeleke, as the flag bearer of Accord,” he said.
Omorogbe noted that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had already disowned the so-called primary, describing it as null and void.
READ ALSO: INEC Disowns Factional Accord Party Gov’ship Primary in Osun
“The sham those political hirelings staged to hoodwink unsuspecting members of the public has been swiftly disowned by the Independent National Electoral Commission as null, void, and of no effect,” he said.
He added that the party had no intention of “wasting energy on frivolous distractions” and accused those involved of “roaming the political space in search of relevance.”
The spokesman reaffirmed that Governor Ademola Adeleke remained the legitimate candidate of the Accord Party, having emerged unopposed in the official primary held earlier in the week. I
“As a compassionate leader, Governor Adeleke is focused on delivering dividends of democracy to the good people of Osun State and will not be distracted by the antics of the main opposition party,” Omorogbe said.
He urged party members to remain united, emphasising that Adeleke had proven himself as a people-centered leader dedicated to keeping Osun “peaceful, stable, and prosperous.”
The dispute comes a day after INEC publicly confirmed that it only monitored the December 10 Accord primary where Adeleke was declared the party’s recognized candidate.