The Independent National Electoral Commission has dissociated itself from a governorship primary reportedly conducted by a faction of the Accord Party in Osun State ahead of the August 8, 2026 governorship election.
A faction of the party was said to have organised a parallel primary election in Osogbo on Sunday, which produced Bamigbola Clement as its candidate.
The exercise reportedly commenced with the accreditation of delegates and was conducted amid heavy security presence, including armed police operatives at the venue.
However, INEC denied any involvement in or knowledge of the exercise.
The commission’s Public Relations Officer in Osun State, Musa Olurode, said INEC only monitored the officially recognised Accord Party primary held a few days earlier.
“We monitored the only Accord Party primary conducted some days ago and have submitted our report. INEC is not aware of any other primary conducted by the party,” Olurode said.
The officially recognised primary, held last Wednesday in Osogbo, produced Senator Nurudeen Ademola Adeleke as the party’s candidate. Adeleke was the sole aspirant in the exercise.
Announcing the result, the Secretary of the party’s electoral committee, Abdulazeez Salaudeen, said Adeleke secured 145 votes out of 150 delegates drawn from the state’s 30 local government areas, with five votes declared void.
According to Salaudeen, the process was conducted transparently and witnessed by party agents as well as INEC officials, leading to Adeleke’s emergence as the winner.
Reacting to the factional primary, Accord Party chairman in Osun State, Victor Akande, dismissed the exercise as inconsequential, describing it as a “joke of the year.”
He urged residents of the state to disregard it, insisting that Adeleke remains the party’s only authentic governorship candidate for the 2026 election.
