PDP Faction Supports Adeleke for Osun Governorship Election

The Kabiru Turaki-led group in the Peoples Democratic Party has thrown its weight behind Ademola Adeleke, the Accord Party candidate and current Governor of Osun State, for the upcoming governorship election on Saturday.

This support was made public in a statement on Thursday by Ini Ememobong, the National Publicity Secretary of the faction.

The decision follows a Court of Appeal ruling that upheld Adebayo Adedamola as the PDP candidate for the election.

Ememobong stated that the court, sitting in Abuja, also ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission to put the PDP logo on the ballot for the August 15, 2026 election.

He explained that the court confirmed that the PDP had held its governorship primary, monitored by INEC, and sent the name of the winner to the commission.

The court also said that the access code for nominations on INEC’s website was “a mere administrative formality” and could not change the legal requirement for sending candidates’ names to the commission.

But the faction criticized INEC for how it managed the nomination process. They claimed the commission did not recognize their candidate and withheld the necessary codes to upload candidates.

They expressed concern that the court's ruling came too late for their candidate to campaign adequately for the election.

“Though justice has finally been done, in this case the grant of justice is akin to a denial as there is no opportunity for our candidate to undertake campaigns in preparation for the elections,” the statement said.

The faction accused INEC of being biased and reaffirmed that the commission was “not a neutral umpire.”

“To this end, faced with the unimaginable difficulty that this situation puts on us, the Interim National Working Committee has chosen not to throw its hands up in defeat, which would only align with APC’s wicked playbook.

“As a true opposition party and in defense of multi-party democracy, and after exhaustive consultations with key stakeholders, the Committee has decided to support the candidature of Governor Ademola Adeleke of Accord Party for Saturday’s governorship elections,” the statement read.

It continued, “Governor Adeleke is a former member of our party who left because of the state-engineered and funded leadership conflict in our party.

“We therefore ask all our members to vote for Governor Adeleke. We encourage them to go out on Saturday to vote, defend their votes and ensure that their votes count in the election.

“Nigerians must resist the shameful do or die disposition of the APC to win elections in places where they are not popular, against the clear wishes of the people.

“Elections must be a true reflection of the peoples’ wish, freely expressed through the ballot. Anything short of that is robbery and must not be allowed to stand.