OSOGBO, December 10, 2025 – Osun State Governor Ademola Adeleke has formally secured the governorship ticket of the Accord Party for the 2026 election after emerging unopposed in the party’s primary election held on Wednesday at the OASIS Event Centre, Osogbo.
The primary, conducted under tight security and monitored by officials of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), saw 150 delegates – five from each of Osun’s 30 local government areas – fully accredited. Out of the 150 votes cast, 145 were declared valid while five were voided. Governor Adeleke received all 145 valid votes, giving him a landslide victory and automatic adoption as the party’s sole candidate.
The result was announced by the Secretary of the Accord Party Primary Election Committee, Abdulazeez Salaudeen, who described the exercise as peaceful, transparent, and in full compliance with the party’s guidelines and the Electoral Act. Moments later, the National Chairman of Accord, Barrister Maxwell Mgbudem, presented the Certificate of Return to the governor, officially confirming him as the party’s flagbearer.
In his acceptance speech, Governor Adeleke thanked the delegates and leadership of Accord for the overwhelming support and promised to justify the confidence reposed in him. He reiterated his commitment to completing ongoing projects and deepening his administration’s five-point agenda, which focuses on infrastructure, workers’ welfare, education, health, and youth empowerment.
“This victory belongs to the people of Osun State. I remain committed to delivering more dividends of democracy. We have done a lot in the last three years, and with your support, we will do much more in the next four,” he told the cheering crowd.
The primary marked the final step in Governor Adeleke’s swift transition from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), which brought him to power in 2022, to Accord. Just 24 hours earlier, on Tuesday, he had publicly announced his defection at a well-attended ceremony at the Government House, Osogbo, where Accord flags replaced those of the PDP. The move had been widely anticipated after weeks of speculation triggered by the lingering national crisis within the PDP and the governor’s quiet registration with Accord in early November.
Political observers describe the switch as a strategic masterstroke that allows Adeleke to bypass the internal crises plaguing both the PDP and the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Osun State. With the PDP still struggling to resolve its leadership crisis and the APC embroiled in a bitter disqualification controversy that has sidelined several prominent aspirants, Accord suddenly emerges as a viable platform for the governor to seek a second term without the baggage of factional wars.
Notable PDP figures, including the state party chairman, the Speaker of the House of Assembly, and federal lawmakers from Osun, were conspicuously absent from Wednesday’s event, underscoring the finality of the governor’s departure from his former party.
The Accord leadership has hailed the development as a turning point for the party in Osun. National Chairman Maxwell Mgbudem described Adeleke as a performer whose track record of infrastructure delivery, payment of half-salaries and pension arrears inherited from the previous administration, and massive investment in road construction and education make him the ideal candidate to lead Accord to victory in 2026.
Political analysts believe the governor’s unopposed emergence strengthens his position significantly. With a relatively united house in Accord, a loyal deputy in Prince Kola Adewusi, and control over state resources, Adeleke now appears well-placed to consolidate his support base across the state’s three senatorial districts ahead of the August 2026 poll.
Meanwhile, the opposition landscape remains chaotic. The APC is yet to conclude its own primary amid appeals from disqualified heavyweights, while the PDP has been thrown into disarray by the governor’s exit, leaving it without a clear successor or structure to challenge him effectively.
For ordinary Osun residents, the message from the OASIS Event Centre was clear: Governor Adeleke is running for re-election, and he has chosen a new platform to do it. Whether Accord can transform from a relatively small party into a winning machine in less than a year remains one of the biggest political questions in the South-West as the 2026 cycle gathers momentum.
One thing, however, is certain: the dancing governor who stunned Nigeria by defeating an incumbent in 2022 is determined to remain in Osun Government House beyond 2026, and he now has the ticket to make that fight.
