The factional National Chairman of the Accord Party and former presidential candidate, Christopher Imumolen, has described the nomination of Governor Ademola Adeleke as the party’s governorship candidate in Osun State for the 2027 elections as “illegal.”
Imumolen said the party’s authentic governorship candidate is Clement Kolawole, whose emergence followed what he described as a legitimate primary election under his leadership.
Speaking on Channels Television’s breakfast programme, The Morning Brief, on Monday, Imumolen argued that Adeleke’s nomination was unconnected to the recognised leadership of the party.
“He had 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.
Imumolen explained that under his watch as National Chairman, the Accord Party conducted a valid primary election that produced Clement Kolawole as its flagbearer in Osun State.
“To save the party and to make sure that Accord fields a candidate that does not have a challenge after winning a candidate that can maintain his position and his seat without any legal challenges, we had to stand up to the occasion by conducting a primary and producing Clement Kolawole for the Osun people and for the party,” he said.
The former presidential aspirant also traced the origins of the leadership crisis within the party to its national convention in July last year.
He said he contested the position of National Chairman against a rival candidate from what he called the Maxwell faction, and won with over 500 delegates backing his bid.
However, Imumolen stated that members of the opposing faction — despite losing at the convention — continued to assert control over the party’s caretaker committee.
“At that time, we had two factions, and I did not want Nigerians to see the Accord Party as an unserious party. So quietly, we went to court for clarity,” he said.
Imumolen said the legal action was taken not out of uncertainty about his position, but to establish clarity and legitimacy in the party’s leadership.
He noted that the court eventually directed the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to recognise him as the National Chairman of the Accord Party.
Imumolen said that when the party learned that Adeleke was considering a move to Accord, efforts were made to brief him on the internal challenges confronting the party. Those efforts, he said, did not yield results, and Adeleke proceeded to conduct primaries with what Imumolen described as the Maxwell faction.
He maintained that, given the court’s position and the conduct of a valid primary election, Clement Kolawole remains the lawful governorship candidate of the Accord Party in Osun State.