Factional National Chairman of the Accord Party and former presidential candidate, Professor Christopher Imumolen, has declared the nomination of Governor Ademola Adeleke as the party’s Osun State governorship candidate illegal.
Speaking on Channels Television’s The Morning Brief on Monday, Imumolen insisted that the party’s authentic candidate is Clement Kolawole, produced through a valid primary under his leadership.
He stated that Adeleke’s emergence came through a faction of the party that does not have recognised control, describing the process as unlawful.
“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,” Imumolen said.
According to him, efforts were made to brief Adeleke on the party’s internal challenges before he proceeded to conduct primaries with what Imumolen referred to as the Maxwell faction, but these efforts did not yield results.
“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 added.
Imumolen also provided context to the ongoing leadership dispute within the Accord Party, noting that he won the National Chairman position at the party’s July convention last year with over 500 delegates, but the rival Maxwell faction continued to claim control.
He said he approached the courts to clarify and legitimise the party’s leadership, resulting in a court directive instructing INEC to recognise him as National Chairman.
With the legal backing and conduct of a recognised primary, Imumolen maintained that Clement Kolawole remains the lawful governorship candidate of the Accord Party in Osun State.
