The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in Osun State has denied knowledge of a governorship primary allegedly conducted by a faction of the Accord Party in the state.
Reports emerged on Sunday that a group within the party held a primary election in Osogbo, producing Bamigbola Clement as its candidate for the August 8, 2026, governorship election. The exercise reportedly involved delegate accreditation and was conducted under heavy police presence. Clement, the sole aspirant, later confirmed his emergence as a consensus candidate.
However, INEC’s Public Relations Officer in Osun, Musa Olurode, said the commission only monitored one Accord Party primary held earlier and has no record of any parallel exercise.
According to INEC, the only recognised primary was the one that produced Governor Ademola Adeleke as the party’s candidate. Adeleke emerged unopposed at that primary, which was conducted in Osogbo and monitored by INEC officials.
The chairman of the Accord Party caretaker committee in Osun, Babalola Akande, also dismissed the factional primary, stating that those behind it were not recognised members of the party. He reaffirmed that Adeleke remains the party’s lawful and duly nominated candidate.
Akande warned institutions and individuals against recognising what he described as impostors, stressing that the party would pursue legal action to protect its mandate and internal democratic process.
