The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in Osun State has disowned a parallel governorship primary purportedly conducted by a faction of the Accord party, declaring that it was not notified of, nor did it monitor, any such exercise.
The clarification followed reports that a faction of the party on Sunday held a primary election in Osogbo, the state capital, which allegedly produced Bamigbola Clement as its candidate for the August 8, 2026, governorship election.
According to reports from the venue, the exercise commenced with the accreditation of delegates amid heavy security presence, including a large contingent of armed police operatives. Bamigbola, who was the sole aspirant presented to delegates, later confirmed his emergence as the faction’s consensus candidate.
“It is true. We had our primary, and I emerged the consensus candidate,” he told reporters shortly after the exercise.
However, INEC’s Public Relations Officer in Osun State, Musa Olurode, firmly distanced the electoral body from the development, insisting that the commission was only aware of, and monitored, a single Accord primary conducted earlier in the week.
“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.
INEC’s position aligns with the primary election conducted last Wednesday, in which Governor Ademola Adeleke emerged as the Accord party’s governorship candidate for the 2026 poll. Adeleke was the sole aspirant at the primary, which was also held in Osogbo and monitored by INEC officials.
Announcing the outcome of that exercise, Abdulazeez Salaudeen, Secretary of the Accord electoral committee, said Adeleke secured 145 votes out of the 150 delegates drawn from the state’s 30 local government areas, with five votes declared void.
“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 stated.
Reacting to the factional primary, the caretaker Chairman of the Accord party in Osun State, Babalola Akande, dismissed the exercise as illegal and unconstitutional, insisting that those behind it 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.
“This 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,” he said.
Akande urged residents of Osun State to disregard what he described as “distractions,” accusing unnamed political actors of attempting to undermine the party’s internal democracy through impersonation and misinformation.
He further warned that the party would pursue legal and disciplinary action against those involved, alleging that one of the key figures in the parallel exercise is a legal practitioner.
“That, to us, will make our job easy, as our party will stop at nothing but to report him to the appropriate authorities, including the Legal Practitioners Disciplinary Committee (LPDC),” he said.
The Accord chairman also cautioned institutions and authorities against according legitimacy to what he termed impostors, warning that the party would not hesitate to seek judicial intervention to protect its constitutional rights and the integrity of the electoral process.
“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,” Akande declared.
