Osun 2026: PDP won’t be on ballot – Accord Party chair

The Accord Party chairman in Osun State, Mr Victor Akande, has said that the Peoples Democratic Party will not be on the ballot paper for the forthcoming governorship election in the state.

Akande stated this on Wednesday in Osogbo, the state capital, while featuring on ‘The Frontliners,’ a media interactive programme organised by a group called Veteran Journalists Association in Osun State.

But in a swift reaction, the Osun PDP Caretaker Secretary, Seyi Bamidele, described Akande’s claim as “a joke taken too far.”

The Accord Party chairman, who dismissed the claim that another faction of the party was in existence in the state, added that those demanding deregistration of AP should be disregarded.

“To the best of my knowledge, the umbrella (PDP logo) is not going to be on the ballot paper on August 8th, 2026.

“There is no internal wrangling in our party. Before Senator Ademola Adeleke joined our party, we never had any faction. Those who are claiming factions, where are their factions? We have had primaries in Ekiti and Anambra states recently, where was the faction was there then?

“Why is it that it was when Ademola Adeleke joined the party that a faction came up? We know quite well those who are behind those so-called factions because one of their leaders came out openly, when they knew that their plans had failed,” Akande said.

Asked why the Accord Party seems the preferred choice of many notable politicians whenever they leave their first choice party, Akande, who is also the Osun State chairman of Inter-party Advisory Council, said “You cannot describe the Accord Party as a non-performing party.

“Sometimes in the past, former governor Rashidi Ladoja (now Olubadan of Ibadan), came to our party to contest and he won four House of Representatives and 18 House of Assembly. Now we have an incumbent, the state Governor in our party. How can you say such a party is a non-performing party?”

Speaking on the party’s plan ahead of the governorship poll, he said Accord has inaugurated grassroots mobilisers that will take Adeleke’s reelection campaign to every corner of the state.

He said, “We have set up a grassroots mobilisation committee that will reach out to every nook and corner of Osun State. We are doing everything within our capacity to make sure that every person in Osun State votes for Ademola Adeleke, the performing governor.”

Reacting further during a chat with The PUNCH, Bamidele declared that PDP will appear on the ballot for the poll, as the party has met all conditions to be among those that would be cleared to participate in the election.

“Saying that a party that has structure across the board will not have a candidate in the August 08 gubernatorial election? I want to tell you boldly that the PDP will have a candidate and will be on the ballot. We have met necessary conditions to be on the ballot.

“People believe in our party, they are going to vote for us and we are going to win the election,” Bamidele said.

reports that after Adeleke had emerged as the Accord Party governorship candidate on December 10, 2025, another faction of the party held another primary in Osogbo, which produced Clement Bamigbola as the candidate.

However, the Accord Party national leadership, led by Mr Maxwell Mgbudem, had insisted that Adeleke remains the authentic candidate of the party in the Osun governorship poll.

Before pitching a tent with the Accord, Adeleke had recused himself from the PDP, his former party, a few hours before its primary.

The PDP, however, went on to hold the exercise and Adebayo Adedamola was elected as the party’s flagbearer in the forthcoming election.