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The African Democratic Congress (ADC) worked with the Accord Party during the August 15 Osun governorship election to prevent the All Progressives Congress (APC) from winning the poll, the ADC national publicity secretary, Bolaji Abdullahi, has disclosed.
Abdullahi made the disclosure on Monday while speaking on Trust TV about the party’s performance in the election.
The ADC candidate, Najeem Salaam, polled 17,180 votes, while Accord candidate and incumbent governor, Ademola Adeleke, won with 511,067 votes. APC candidate Bola Oyebamiji came second with 444,815 votes.
Abdullahi said the ADC anticipated that a division of opposition votes could hand victory to the APC, prompting the party to consider collaboration with Accord.
“We saw the possibility of collaboration. We saw the possibility earlier enough that if we decided to go full throttle, the possibility that the opposition would divide the votes and the APC would take the victory was there,” he said.
“And that was why we saw the opportunity to work together, and that was what happened.”
He said the ADC did not regard the 17,180 votes secured by its candidate as a failure because the party’s priority was to prevent the APC from returning to power in Osun.
“That is why we can confidently celebrate what is going on in Osun, because for us, victory means that APC was defeated,” he added.
“So we don’t see the fact that our governorship candidate did not emerge as an occasion of defeat or failure. The failure, the defeat of the APC, was a real victory for us.”
Asked whether the ADC directed its supporters to vote for Adeleke, Abdullahi said: “We cooperated with the Accord party.” He added that the decision was supported by the ADC leadership.
Abdullahi said the cooperation demonstrated that opposition parties could defeat the APC in the 2027 presidential election if they united behind a common objective.
“It’s something that was deliberate, and we are glad that the outcome has justified the confidence that everyone has put in the process, and it has proved that the opposition working together can actually defeat this incumbent, no matter how awesome they are,” he said.
The ADC spokesman, however, said the party would not claim sole credit for Adeleke’s victory, stressing that the people of Osun ultimately determined the outcome.
“When I say that we are not taking credit, we are saying that the credit belongs to the people of Osun state,” Abdullahi said.
“The victory belongs to Ademola Adeleke, who, in spite of all odds, still managed to emerge as the governor of Osun state.”
The disclosure provides an insight into the opposition strategy that shaped the Osun election and highlights the ADC’s argument that greater cooperation among opposition parties could strengthen their challenge to the APC ahead of 2027.
