The African Democratic Congress says it collaborated with the Accord Party during the August 15 Osun State governorship election to prevent the All Progressives Congress from reclaiming power in the state.
National Publicity Secretary of the ADC, Bolaji Abdullahi, disclosed this on Trust TV on Monday while reacting to the party’s performance in the election.
The ADC’s governorship candidate, Najeem Salaam, polled 17,180 votes in the election, while incumbent Governor Ademola Adeleke of the Accord Party won with 511,067 votes, defeating his closest challenger, Bola Oyebamiji of the APC, who secured 444,815 votes.
Asked why the party’s performance was below expectations, Abdullahi said the ADC had identified the possibility of opposition votes being divided, which could have given the APC an advantage.
The reasoning, according to the scribe, led the coalition to work with the Accord Party.
He said, “We saw the possibility of collaboration. We saw the possibility earlier on that if we decided to go full throttle, the possibility that the opposition would divide the votes and APC would take the victory was there.
“And that was why we saw the opportunity to work together. And that was what happened.”
He said the ADC did not consider its governorship candidate’s performance a failure because the party’s primary objective was to prevent the APC from returning to power in the state.
“That is why we can confidently celebrate what is going on in Osun, because for us, victory means that APC was defeated.
“So we don’t see the fact that our governor did not emerge as an indication of defeat or failure. For us, the failure, the defeat of the APC, was a real victory for us,” he said.
Asked whether the ADC had directed its supporters to vote for Adeleke, Abdullahi said, “We co-operated with the Accord Party.”
According to him, the decision was deliberate and had the backing of the ADC leadership.
Abdullahi said the development demonstrated that opposition parties could defeat the ruling APC in the 2027 presidential election if they worked together.
“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.
