The leadership crisis rocking the Accord political party has taken a new turn in Oyo state on Wednesday as a faction led by Chris Imumolen rejected Tuesday’s parallel governorship primary elections and announced plans to conduct a fresh exercise. The Cable reports.
On Tuesday, two factions of the party held parallel governorship primary elections, with one of them declaring Olakunle Busari, popularly known as “Gudugudu,” the winner.
According to NAN, Adebukola Ajaja, national secretary of the Accord Party, and officials of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) monitored the exercise that returned Busari as the party’s flagbearer.
However, in two viral videos circulated on X, another faction of the party declared Oriyomi Hamzat the winner of the governorship primary.
The faction, which reportedly operated under a different national executive alignment, said Hamzat emerged based on wide grassroots support, though no detailed vote breakdown was released.
Reacting to the development in a statement issued on Wednesday, Imumolen said the parallel primaries conducted in the state by the factions loyal to Maxwell Mgbudem were null and void, insisting that he remains the authentic national chairman of the party.
He added that neither Hamzat nor Busari is the valid governorship candidate of the party, describing the emergence of parallel candidates from the same factional process as a reflection of “institutional confusion, greed, money politics and weak leadership”.
He said the primaries conducted by the Mgbudem-led faction in Oyo state have exposed the party to public ridicule due to conflicting outcomes from the same exercise.
According to him, the development has further vindicated party members who had long questioned the legitimacy, discipline and credibility of the rival faction.
He also announced the setting up of a disciplinary committee to investigate Mgbudem and Ajaja’s conduct in the primaries.
Imumolen assured stakeholders in Oyo state that the party’s national leadership would soon conduct a fresh, transparent and unified primary to produce a legitimate governorship candidate.
“The authentic leadership of the party remains committed to internal democracy, justice and the rule of law and will not allow selfish interests to undermine its integrity,” he said.
He urged members to remain calm as efforts continue to reposition the Accord Party ahead of the 2027 general elections.
