ADC says it backed Accord to block APC in Osun election

The African Democratic Congress disclosed that it deliberately partnered with the Accord Party on August 15 for the Osun State governorship election, seeking to block the All Progressives Congress from reclaiming control. During a Monday television interview, ADC national spokesperson Bolaji Abdullahi outlined the strategic reasoning behind this alliance.

Abdullahi noted that party leaders had spotted a troubling risk: fragmentation among opposition votes could have handed an advantage to the APC. To prevent such a scenario, the ADC opted to coordinate efforts with Accord and concentrate anti-APC electoral backing.

In the race itself, the ADC's gubernatorial nominee, Najeem Salaam, earned 17,180 votes and came in third. The incumbent Accord Party nominee, Governor Ademola Adeleke, secured victory with 511,067 votes.

In second place was Bola Oyebamiji representing the APC, who polled 444,815 votes. A gap of 66,252 votes separated the top two finishers.

Yet on Tuesday, Governor Adeleke refuted claims of any binding political accord with the ADC. Through spokesman Olawale Rasheed, the governor asserted that the ADC formed no part of his re-election coalition, creating tension with the ADC's own public assertions regarding pre-poll teamwork.

These conflicting narratives have cast doubt on the precise scope and nature of any electoral coordination between the two organizations.