Osun State’s Independent National Electoral Commission has stated that it was unaware of a second primary that was purportedly held by a branch of the state’s Accord Party.
According to reports, Bamigbola Clement was chosen as the Accord Party’s candidate for the governorship election on August 8, 2026, following a primary election held in Osun on Sunday.
Delegates were accredited before the process, which took place in the state capital of Osogbo.
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 newsmen PUNCH.
However, the Osun State INEC’s Public Relations Officer, 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.
Recall that Ademola Adeleke, the governor of Osun State, was announced last Wednesday as the Accord Party’s nominee for the upcoming election, according to sources.
In that Osogbo primary, Adeleke was the only candidate.
Adeleke received 145 votes out of 150 delegates chosen from the state’s 30 local government districts, according to Abdulazeez Salaudeen, Secretary of the electoral body that conducted the primary.
Reacting to the factional primary, the caretaker Chairman of Accord Party in Osun State, Babalola Akande, stated that those who organised the exercise were 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, “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.
He urged Osun residents to ignore the “distractions, which are the handiwork of politically displaced actors who, having been repeatedly rejected by the electorate, now resort to impersonation, falsehood, and institutional sabotage in a futile bid to return to power through the back door.
“We are hearing that the person being used for this purpose 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 LPDC.
“We therefore make bold to state that any institution or authority that accords recognition, protection, or legitimacy to such impostors or their activities does so at its own legal peril, as the Accord will promptly and decisively invoke necessary judicial intervention to protect its constitutional rights, 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.”
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