Dare Babalola
Factional National Chairman and Former presidential candidate under the Accord Party, Professor Christopher Imumolen, on Monday claimed that Governor Ademola Adeleke’s nomination as the party’s gubernatorial candidate in Osun State is illegal.
Imumolen, during an interview on Channels Television, declared that Clement Kolawole is the party’s authentic governorship candidate in the state, adding that Accord Party, under his leadership, conducted a valid primary election.
He emphasised that claims connecting Governor Adeleke to the party were rooted in an illegitimate and unauthorised process, noting that Adeleke’s emergence stemmed from a faction lacking party control.
“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 when the party received information that Governor Adeleke was considering a move to Accord, efforts were made to brief him on the internal challenges within the party.
He, however, noted that those efforts did not yield results before Adeleke proceeded to conduct primaries with what he described as the Maxwell faction.
“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.
Furthermore, he gave background to the leadership crisis within the party, stating that the Accord Party held its national convention in July last year, where he contested for the position of National Chairman against a rival candidate from the Maxwell faction.
According to him, he won the election convincingly with over 500 delegates and was duly declared the winner.
However, he said members of the opposing faction, who lost the convention but were part of the party’s caretaker committee, continued to claim control of the party.
Imumolen said the situation prompted him to approach the court, not because he was unsure of his position, but to prevent the party from being perceived as unserious by the Nigerian public.
“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 explained.
He added that the court eventually directed the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to recognise him as the National Chairman of the Accord Party, noting that the legal action was taken purely to establish clarity and legitimacy within the party’s leadership structure.
