Adeleke Rejects Court Ruling Against Accord, Celebrates Local Government Court Win

Osun State Governor, Ademola Adeleke, on Monday rejected a Federal High Court ruling that ordered the deregistration of the Accord and four other opposition parties. He insisted that this ruling would not stop him from joining the 15 August off-cycle governorship election in the state.

The court told the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to deregister five political parties: Accord Party (AP), African Democratic Congress, Action Alliance (AA), Action Peoples Party (APP), and Zenith Labour Party (ZLP). This was due to their failure to meet the performance standards needed for continued registration.

Mr Adeleke, who switched from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the Accord last year to seek a second term, called the ruling an abuse of court process. He said it threatens the integrity of Nigeria’s electoral system.

During a press conference in Osogbo, the state capital, the governor said the Federal High Court did not have the right to make this decision since the Court of Appeal had already stepped in and postponed the case to October.

“On the deregistration of some political parties, the action of the Federal High Court is clearly an affront on the Court of Appeal, an abuse of court process and an open threat against the integrity of the electoral process,” Mr Adeleke said.

“Our lawyers have taken necessary steps to right the wrong. It is on record that the Court of Appeal had stayed proceedings on the matter till October. We are therefore surprised that the lower court proceeded to act on a matter already acted upon by the higher court.”

The governor assured his supporters that the Accord will still exist while they challenge the ruling in court. He reiterated that he would contest the upcoming governorship election under the party’s banner.

“I call on Osun people to remain calm. The judgment cannot stay; Accord will be on the ballot; we will be on the ballot; and we will win resoundingly on August 15,” he said.

This judgement has caused uncertainty for the political future of the parties involved, especially the Accord. Mr Adeleke had joined the Accord after leaving the PDP amid long-standing internal issues regarding the party’s management and leadership in Osun State.

In another case, Mr Adeleke welcomed a different judgement from the Federal High Court in Osogbo. This ruling dismissed a request to extend the term of local government chairmen who were elected under the administration of former Governor Adegboyega Oyetola.

The governor argued that this ruling supported earlier judicial decisions that declared term extensions for elected local government officials unconstitutional.

According to him, the judgement confirmed that the terms of the affected chairmen ended in October 2025, meaning they no longer have legal authority to occupy local government offices across the state.

“The dismissal of the elongation request conforms with the stipulations of the constitution. The judgment further validates the precedent set by the Supreme Court ruling that tenure elongation is unconstitutional,” he said.

Following this ruling, Mr Adeleke called on the Inspector-General of Police, Olatunji Disu, to instruct the Osun State Commissioner of Police to stop providing security for the affected council officials.

He also accused the police of supporting what he called the illegal occupation of local government offices by the chairmen. The governor urged the United Bank for Africa (UBA) to stop recognizing these officials as signatories to local government accounts and demanded that local government funds be made available to the officials who are legally recognized.

“We demand that all law enforcement agents should support the immediate restoration of the duly elected local government chairmen. This is the path of law and the constitution,” he said.

Mr Adeleke urged residents to stay peaceful and focused on the upcoming governorship election. He insisted that the legal issues facing his party or the local government conflict would not derail his re-election campaign.

“Our people are reassured that efforts by Osun APC to stop our re-election have failed. Our flag-off rally is holding tomorrow. We will not be distracted. We remain focused on winning,” he said.