The African Democratic Congress (ADC) has stated that its poor performance in the 15 August Osun State governorship election was a result of a deliberate strategy to collaborate with the Accord party, which ultimately won the election. The ADC’s National Publicity Secretary, Bolaji Abdullahi, made this disclosure on Monday during an interview with Trust TV, explaining that the collaboration was aimed at preventing the All Progressives Congress (APC) from reclaiming power in the state.
ADC’s Strategy to Prevent APC Victory
According to Mr Abdullahi, the ADC identified early in the electoral process that opposition votes risked being split, which could have allowed the APC to win. “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.”
In the election, the incumbent governor and Accord candidate, Ademola Adeleke, secured 511,067 votes, while his closest challenger, the APC candidate, Bola Oyebamiji, polled 444,815 votes. The ADC candidate, Najeem Salaam, came a distant third with 17,180 votes, representing less than 5 per cent of the total votes cast. Despite the wide margin, Mr Abdullahi insisted that the ADC did not consider its performance a failure, as its broader objective was to defeat the APC.
Party’s Definition of Victory
Mr Abdullahi emphasised that the ADC’s definition of victory in the election extended beyond having its candidate emerge as governor. “That is why we can confidently celebrate what is going on in Osun, because for us, victory means that APC was defeated,” he said. “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.”
The ADC, which seeks to become the major party to defeat the APC in the 2027 general election, has consistently performed poorly in off-cycle elections, rarely securing up to 10 per cent of the votes. In Osun, where the ADC national secretary, Rauf Aregbesola, is a former governor, the party garnered less than 5 per cent of the total votes. Asked whether the ADC directed its supporters to vote for Mr Adeleke, Mr Abdullahi clarified that the party “cooperated with the Accord party,” a decision that had the backing of the ADC leadership.
ADC Links Osun Strategy to 2027
Mr Abdullahi said the outcome in Osun demonstrated that opposition parties could defeat the APC in the 2027 elections if they set aside their differences and work together. He described the cooperation with Accord as a deliberate decision whose outcome validated the strategy. “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.
However, the ADC spokesperson declined to claim sole responsibility for Mr Adeleke’s victory, attributing the outcome primarily to the electorate and the Accord candidate. “When I say that we are not taking credit, we are saying that the credit belongs to the people of Osun State,” Mr Abdullahi said. “The victory belongs to Ademola Adeleke, who, in spite of all odds, still managed to emerge as the governor of Osun State.”
Despite the ADC’s claims, Mr Adeleke has thanked President Bola Tinubu for allegedly playing a neutral role in the election. The governor, after his victory, also restated his support for Mr Tinubu’s re-election on the APC platform.
