Former Ekiti State Governor Ayodele Fayose has alleged that the Accord Party spent no less than N40 billion to secure victory in the August 15, 2026, Osun State governorship election, directly contradicting remarks made by Afrobeats star David Adeleke, known as Davido. Fayose made the claim on Wednesday, August 19, 2026, during a video interview with TVC journalist Nifemi Oguntoye, shared on Oguntoye's X handle.
Fayose Challenges Davido's Claims on Vote-Buying
Davido, who is the nephew of Accord Party candidate and incumbent Governor Ademola Adeleke, had earlier accused the All Progressives Congress (APC) of spending N110 billion on vote-buying during the election. Davido insisted that the Accord Party won through popular support alone and not through money, according to Punch reports. Fayose rejected that framing outright. "Accord Party led the opponents. The money that went to that election from the Accord party itself cannot be under N40 billion. I stand to be corrected," he said.
N7.5 Billion Sent to Wards Before Election Day
Beyond the overall figure, Fayose alleged that more than N7.5 billion was sent to local governments and individual wards in the days immediately before the poll. He said the minimum allocation to any ward was about N35 million. "On Monday, they sent over N7.5 billion to the various local governments. Various wards. The minimum for the wards that got the minimum would be about N35 million. In a ward of about 7, 8, 9 polling units," he said. He also referenced account freezes by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) as evidence that something irregular had occurred. "The N20 million that went out like a week before the election that prompted the EFCC to freeze their account shows that something is not right. Why don't you send those to the people six months ago?" he asked. Fayose acknowledged that both the Accord Party and the APC spent beyond the legal limit for election expenditure, but said the heavy spending on both sides did not undermine the significance of the result.
Ede Stronghold, Court Challenge, and 2027 Outlook
On the final margin, Fayose attributed a large portion of Adeleke's winning gap to his family's deep roots in Ede. Accord Party's Adeleke polled 511,067 votes against the APC's Bola Oyebamiji, who got 444,815 votes, a difference of 66,252 votes. Fayose said roughly 46,000 of those votes came from Ede alone, an area where he argued the APC had no real foothold regardless of its candidate. When asked whether the APC should go to court, Fayose said they should, adding: "I believe it was pirated. That's what I believe," in reference to the vote tallies from Ede. He also said President Bola Tinubu had the power to tip the election in the APC's favour but chose not to, repeating his earlier description of Tinubu as "magnanimous."
Opposition Missed Best Chance for 2027
On the 2027 outlook, Fayose, who remains a member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), said the opposition had already missed its best opportunity by failing to unite. "The only thing that can give them hope has passed, which is they are coming together. They have failed to come together, and they cannot retrieve that back. That is certain," he said. Separately, the Imole Campaign Council began a post-election review of the Osun State governorship election and directed its structures across the state's 30 local government areas to document victims of electoral violence. The council announced the move in a statement issued on Monday, August 17, by its spokesperson, Pelumi Olajengbesi.
