Adeleke camp dismisses factional Accord leader’s endorsement of APC candidate
August 13, 2026 8:46 pm
The spokesperson for The Imole Campaign Council, Pelumi Olajengbesi
The Imole Campaign Council has dismissed the endorsement of the All Progressives Congress governorship candidate, Bola Oyebamiji, by Christopher Imumolen, describing him as a factional leader of the Accord Party whose endorsement does not represent the position of the party.
The council said the officially recognised National Chairman of Accord, Maxwell Mgbudem, remained committed to the re-election of Osun State Governor, Ademola Adeleke, ahead of Saturday’s governorship election.
This was contained in a statement signed by the spokesperson for the Imole Campaign Council, Pelumi Olajengbesi, on Thursday.
This comes hours after Imumolen, who described himself as the national chairman of Accord, publicly endorsed Oyebamiji at the APC mega rally in Osogbo.
PUNCH Online reports that Imumolen had said at the rally that Accord had withdrawn its support for Adeleke and directed members of the party in Osun State to vote for Oyebamiji in Saturday’s election. He also predicted that Oyebamiji would be sworn in as governor after the poll.
However, the Adeleke campaign council, in its statement titled “Accord Party Chairman Didn’t Endorse Oyebamiji,” rejected the development and accused the APC of presenting Imumolen as the party’s national chairman.
“The attention of The Imole Campaign Council has been drawn to a show of shame staged by the All Progressives Congress today in Osogbo, Osun State, where the APC recruited a fake entity and an impersonator to endorse its candidate for the August 15, 2026 governorship election, Bola Oyebamiji.
“The APC recruited one Christopher Imumolen who erroneously claimed he leads a faction of the Accord Party to endorse Oyebamiji”, the statement partly read.
The council added that the record should be put straight, insisting that Mgbudem was the national chairman recognised by the Independent National Electoral Commission, not Imumolen.
“To put the records straight, the officially recognised National Chairman of the Accord Party by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) is Barrister Maxwell Obinali Mgbudem, who is solidly behind Governor Ademola Adeleke’s re-election and continuity in Osun State”, it stated.
The Imole Campaign Council further described the APC rally as an attempt to create a misleading impression ahead of the election. It insisted that Mgbudem remained firmly behind Adeleke and would not endorse the APC candidate.
“The ridiculous stage drama by the APC today shows the party is unpopular and had to recruit a fake entity to promote false and misleading narratives. Again, to be clear, the INEC-recognised Accord Party National Chairman, Mgbudem, is solidly behind Governor Adeleke and will never endorse Oyebamiji”, the statement added.
The council urged voters to disregard what it described as the opposition’s misleading narrative and maintained that Adeleke remained poised for victory in the election.
“We urge the public to dismiss the misleading narrative pushed out by the opposition who are jittery over their impending defeat on Saturday when the good people of Osun State are committed to coming out en masse to reelect Governor Adeleke”, the statement concluded.
PUNCH Online reports that INEC’s current political-party directory lists Mgbudem as the National Chairman of Accord.
The latest development is the continuation of a leadership dispute within Accord that has featured prominently in the build-up to the Osun election. Earlier reports had identified Imumolen as a factional chairman, while Mgbudem has continued to be listed by INEC as the party’s national chairman.
The dispute is particularly significant because Adeleke is contesting Saturday’s election on the Accord platform, while Oyebamiji is the APC candidate. Accord had previously nominated Adeleke as its governorship candidate, with Mgbudem handing him the party’s certificate of return after the primary.
The Osun governorship election is scheduled for Saturday, August 15, 2026, with the contest between the incumbent Adeleke and Oyebamiji among the major political battles attracting attention ahead of the poll.
Rotimi, with over 12 years of quality media experience, reports entertainment and politics
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