Osun 2026: Accord Party Chair Claims PDP Will Be Missing from Ballot
The political atmosphere in Osun State has grown increasingly tense ahead of the August 8, 2026, governorship election, as the State Chairman of the Accord Party, Mr. Victor Akande, has controversially declared that the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) will not appear on the ballot.
Akande made the bold assertion on Wednesday in Osogbo, the state capital, while appearing on The Frontliners, a media interactive programme organised by the Veteran Journalists Association in Osun State.
Dismissing the electoral viability of the opposition, Akande expressed supreme confidence in the standing of his own party, which recently welcomed the incumbent Governor, Senator Ademola Adeleke, into its fold.
“To the best of my knowledge, the umbrella (PDP logo) is not going to be on the ballot paper on August 8th, 2026,” Akande stated.
The Accord Party chairman also utilized the platform to debunk rumors of internal factionalization within his party.
He attributed recent claims of a rift to external forces unsettled by Governor Adeleke’s defection to the Accord Party.
“There is no internal wrangling in our party. Before Senator Ademola Adeleke joined our party, we never had any faction… Why is it that it was when Ademola Adeleke joined the party that a faction came up?” he queried.
Akande, who also serves as the Osun State Chairman of the Inter-Party Advisory Council (IPAC), defended the Accord Party’s status as a major political platform.
He cited historical precedents, noting that former Governor Rashidi Ladoja of Oyo State successfully used the platform to win legislative seats in the past.
“Now we have an incumbent, the state Governor in our party. How can you say such a party is a non-performing party?” he added.
In a swift rebuttal, the Osun PDP Caretaker Secretary, Seyi Bamidele, dismissed Akande’s comments as “a joke taken too far.”
Speaking to The PUNCH, Bamidele insisted that the PDP has fulfilled all necessary electoral conditions and will field a candidate in the upcoming poll.
“Saying that a party that has structure across the board will not have a candidate in the August 8 gubernatorial election? I want to tell you boldly that the PDP will have a candidate and will be on the ballot,” Bamidele declared. “People believe in our party, they are going to vote for us and we are going to win the election.”
The political landscape in Osun shifted dramatically in December 2025, when Governor Ademola Adeleke defected from the PDP to the Accord Party just hours before the PDP primaries.
While Adeleke secured the Accord Party ticket on December 10, 2025, the PDP proceeded with its primary election, producing Adebayo Adedamola as its flagbearer.
Despite a splinter group within the Accord Party electing a different candidate, Clement Bamigbola, the national leadership led by Mr. Maxwell Mgbudem has maintained that Governor Adeleke remains the authentic candidate for the 2026 election.
