The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in Osun State has disowned a purported governorship primary reportedly conducted by a faction of the Accord Party in the state, saying it was not informed of such an exercise.

A faction of the party was said to have held a primary election on Sunday in Osogbo, the state capital, which allegedly produced one Bamigbola Clement as its candidate for the August 8, 2026, governorship election.

The exercise reportedly commenced with the accreditation of delegates, while a heavy presence of armed police operatives was observed at the venue.

Confirming the development, Bamigbola, who was the sole aspirant presented to delegates, said he emerged as the party’s consensus candidate.

“It is true. We had our primary, and I emerged the consensus candidate,” he said.

However, reacting to the development, INEC’s Public Relations Officer in Osun State, Musa Olurode, said the commission was unaware of any such parallel primary.

“We monitored the only Accord Party primary conducted a few days ago, and the report has been submitted. INEC is not aware of any other primary by the party,” Olurode said.

Recall that Osun State Governor, Ademola Adeleke, last Wednesday emerged as the Accord Party’s governorship candidate for the 2026 poll.

Adeleke was the sole aspirant at the primary, which was also held in Osogbo.

Announcing the result, the Secretary of the party’s electoral committee, Abdulazeez Salaudeen, said Adeleke polled 145 votes out of 150 delegates drawn from the state’s 30 local government areas, with five votes declared void.

“The electoral committee has delivered on its mandate. After voting and counting, witnessed by agents of the candidate and officials of the Independent National Electoral Commission, having scored the highest number of votes, I hereby declare Senator Nurudeen Ademola Adeleke as the winner of the primary,” Salaudeen said.

Reacting to the factional exercise, the Caretaker Chairman of the Accord Party in Osun State, Babalola Akande, dismissed the primary as illegal, insisting that those who organised it are not recognised by the party.

Addressing journalists in Osogbo on Sunday, Akande reaffirmed that Adeleke remains the duly nominated and lawful governorship candidate of the Accord Party in the state.

“This position is incontestable, irreversible, and firmly grounded in law, having emerged through due process in accordance with the Constitution of the Accord Party, the Electoral Act 2022, and established judicial precedents,” he said.

He urged residents of the state to disregard what he described as “distractions” orchestrated by “politically displaced actors who, having been repeatedly rejected by the electorate, now resort to impersonation, falsehood, and institutional sabotage in a futile attempt to return to power through the back door.”

Akande further alleged that the individual being paraded as candidate in the factional primary is a legal practitioner, warning that the party would petition the appropriate authorities, including the Legal Practitioners Disciplinary Committee (LPDC).

“We therefore state clearly that any institution or authority that accords recognition, protection, or legitimacy to such impostors or their activities does so at its own legal peril, as the Accord Party will promptly seek judicial intervention to protect its constitutional rights, internal democracy, and the sanctity of the ballot,” he said.

“For the avoidance of doubt, by virtue of the valid primary election lawfully conducted on Wednesday, December 10, 2025, Governor Ademola Jackson Nurudeen Adeleke remains the sole and legally recognised governorship candidate of the Accord Party in Osun State. No parallel structure, no impersonator, and no contrived spectacle can alter this legal reality,” Akande added.