Osun State Governor and Accord Party’s candidate, Ademola Adeleke
- says governor will win
The Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, in Osun State has vowed to work for the reelection of Governor Ademola Adeleke despite his defection to another party.
Announcing this position in Osogbo the state capital, the party’s chairman in the state, Mr Sunday Bisi, declared that the PDP remains firmly committed to Adeleke’s re-election.
He stressed that the PDP does not recognise any other governorship candidate aside from the incumbent governor, who is contesting the election on the platform of the Accord Party.
Categorically, Bisi declared that the party will deploy all its structures across the state to secure victory for Adeleke in the 2026 governorship election.
He said Adeleke’s decision to leave the PDP was taken in the best interest of his candidacy and to avoid possible disqualification arising from the lingering crisis within the party at the national level.
His words, “Adeleke is going to win the 2026 governorship election. The entire PDP structure in Osun State will work for his victory. We do not have any other candidate than him, even though he is no longer contesting under the PDP.”
He described the governor’s defection as a “doctrine of necessity,” insisting that it should not be compared with defections by other PDP governors across the country.
Bisi explained that party leaders in the state had anticipated that the internal challenges facing the PDP could jeopardise Adeleke’s nomination if he remained in the party, prompting the decision for him to contest under a different platform.
“With the way the PDP crisis was unfolding, there was a strong possibility that Adeleke’s nomination might be disqualified. We had to play safe, and that is why the governor is running on the platform of the Accord Party,” he added.
Adeleke had formally resigned from the PDP on November 4 and joined the Accord Party on December 9, where he subsequently emerged as the party’s governorship candidate.
Despite his exit, the PDP went ahead to conduct its governorship primary election on December 2 in Osogbo, during which Mr. Adedamola Adebayo emerged as the party’s candidate after polling 919 votes out of the 957 accredited delegates.
However, key PDP leaders in the state, including Bisi and several elected and appointed office holders, were absent from the primary election.
Bisi maintained that the PDP in Osun State remains united and resolute in its support for Adeleke, adding that the governor’s popularity and performance in office would complement the party’s mobilisation efforts to secure his re-election.
