Osun 2026: Accord slams Oyinlola, others over Oyebamiji’s endorsement

The Osun State chapter of the Accord Party has declared that the endorsement of the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate, Bola Oyebamiji, by former Governor Olagunsoye Oyinlola and some other leaders of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the state will not stop the re-election victory of Governor Ademola Adeleke in the August 15 governorship election.

Osun Accord Party Chairman, Victor Akande, gave the reaction in a statement he personally signed and obtained in Osogbo on Monday.

Recall that Governor Ademola Adeleke had officially dumped the PDP to pitch his tent with the Accord Party as his political vehicle for his second-term bid.

Speaking over the weekend at an event held in Osogbo, Oyinlola stated that his group decided to part ways with the incumbent administration of Governor Adeleke due to a lack of inclusion in his handling of government affairs.

Oyinlola, joined by a former Secretary to the State Government, Mr Fatai Akinbade, and former PDP National Vice Chairman, Southwest, Alhaji Tajudeen Oladipo, however, declared that they were not dumping the PDP.

He added that the group adopted Oyebamiji’s candidature, “having considered the decision necessary and out of conviction and sincere desire for the progress of the state.”

Reacting to the endorsement, Akande recalled that Prince Oyinlola, Alhaji Fatai Akinbade and Alhaji Tajudeen Oladipo actively worked against the election of the governor in 2022 but failed to stop the governor from winning.

He described Oyinlola’s decision as being of no political consequence, insisting that the former governor actually worked against Governor Adeleke in both 2018 and 2022.

Akande submitted that the trio rejoined the governor after his victory in 2022 and benefited greatly from the administration, affirming that the former governor had only gone back to his vomit.

“Osun Accord remains ever strong and Governor Adeleke remains unbeatable in the forthcoming polls. Those who left have never really supported the governor in previous election battles.

“In 2018 and 2022, they voted and worked against the governor. They failed to stop the governor’s victory.

“After they failed, they rejoined the governor and enjoyed positive treatment from the administration whose emergence they did not support.

“As another cycle of election is knocking again, they opportunistically moved back to a party that is killing and maiming Osun people.

“So their movement has no political effect on the re-election of Mr Governor.

“Go to their local governments; they lack the political capital to swing the people against a governor who is widely acknowledged locally and internationally to have positively transformed Osun State.

“The case of those defectors is made worse as Osun political grassroots see them as political ingrates and opportunists”, the Accord chairman said.

He tasked Osun people to strengthen their determination to re-elect the governor through ongoing grassroots mobilisation, expressing happiness that fifth columnists who never have an interest in good governance had left the winning platform.

𝕤𝕖𝕖 𝕞𝕠𝕣𝕖/𝕨𝕒𝕥𝕔𝕙 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕧𝕚𝕕𝕖𝕠 𝕙𝕖𝕣𝕖