Factional National Chairman of the Accord Party and former presidential candidate, Professor Christopher Imumolen, has described as illegal the purported nomination of Governor Ademola Adeleke as the party’s governorship candidate for the 2027 Osun State election.
Imumolen said the authentic and legally recognised Accord Party candidate in Osun State is Clement Kolawole, who emerged from what he described as a validly conducted primary election under his leadership.
Speaking on Channels Television’s The Morning Brief on Monday, Imumolen maintained that Adeleke’s alleged emergence followed an unrecognised and unlawful process carried out by a faction that lacks control of the party.
“He emerged through a process that we know is not a recognised or legal process. The faction that claims to have brought him into the party is not the faction in charge of the party as it is today,” he said.
According to Imumolen, when the Accord Party became aware of Adeleke’s possible defection, efforts were made to brief him on the party’s internal leadership dispute. He said those efforts were unsuccessful before the governor proceeded to conduct primaries with what he referred to as the Maxwell faction.
“To save the party and to ensure that Accord fields a candidate without post-election legal challenges, we had to act decisively by conducting a primary that produced Clement Kolawole as our candidate for Osun State,” he explained.
Imumolen also gave insight into the party’s leadership crisis, noting that the Accord Party held a national convention in July last year, where he contested and won the position of National Chairman against a rival candidate from the Maxwell faction.
He said he secured victory with the support of over 500 delegates and was duly declared the winner, but members of the opposing faction—who were part of the party’s caretaker committee—continued to lay claim to the party’s leadership despite losing the election.
To resolve the dispute and protect the party’s image, Imumolen said he approached the court to seek clarity.
“I did not want Nigerians to see the Accord Party as an unserious party. So quietly, we went to court for clarity,” he said.
He disclosed that the court subsequently directed the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to recognise him as the National Chairman of the Accord Party, thereby affirming the legitimacy of his leadership.
With the court ruling and the conduct of what he described as a valid governorship primary, Imumolen insisted that Clement Kolawole remains the lawful Accord Party governorship candidate in Osun State, warning that any other claim would face legal obstacles.
He reaffirmed the party’s commitment to due process and internal democracy ahead of the 2027 elections.
