Gov’ship poll: Come out and vote party of your choice,’ Akpabio tells Osun residents

Accord disowns Imumolen’s endorsement of Oyebamiji, Turaki-led PDP adopts Adeleke

President of the Senate, Godswill Akpabio, has urged residents of Osun State to come out and exercise their franchise in Saturday’s governorship election, assuring them that adequate security arrangements have been put in place to ensure a peaceful poll.

Akpabio spoke on Thursday at the All Progressives Congress (APC) mega rally in Osogbo, the Osun State capital, ahead of the August 15, 2026, governorship election.

The Senate President urged voters to come out and vote for candidates of their choice, while advising them to make their decisions wisely.

“For the good people of Osun State, feel free to go out and exercise your franchise on Saturday. Feel free to go out and vote for the candidate of your party, the party of your choice.

 “But my advice will be: choose wisely. Please, don’t feel intimidated. Social media is not the same thing as the polling unit. We are saying go to the polling units; you will not be molested,” he said.

According to him, President Bola Tinubu has directed that adequate security be provided to enable residents to vote without intimidation or harassment.

“The President is saying that he has put in place enough security for the good people of Osun State in general to vote peacefully come Saturday, 15th of August, 2026.

“Nobody is going to be harassed, and this is a pointer to the fact that he believes truly in democracy and democratic governance. He is not ready to allow any group of people to molest democracy or to molest any citizen,” Akpabio said.

The former governor of Akwa Ibom also appealed to residents to remain calm and avoid violence, particularly in response to provocative comments or exchanges on social media.

 “Even if you’re molested on social media, I think you should ensure restraint. Remain peaceful. Osun is going to have a very peaceful election. We don’t have need for violence; we are not violent,” he added.

Several senior APC figures, including Ogun State Governor Dapo Abiodun, Kaduna State Governor Uba Sani, Imo State Governor Hope Uzodinma, APC National Chairman Nentawe Yilwatda, Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives Benjamin Kalu and Deputy President of the Senate Barau Jibrin, among others, were at the rally

The APC rally came amid heightened political activity across Osun ahead of Saturday’s election, which is expected to be closely contested.

Incumbent Governor Ademola Adeleke of the Accord Party is seeking a second term, while the APC’s Bola Oyebamiji is among his major challengers.

Meanwhile, Accord Party has distanced itself from its 2023 presidential candidate, Chris Imumolen, over his support to the All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship candidate, Bola Oyebamiji, ahead of the Osun governorship election.

This is contained in a statement issued by the party’s National Chairman, Mr Maxwell Mgbudem, on Thursday in Abuja.

Mgbudem said that Imumolen’s appearance at an APC rally in Osogbo did not represent the position of the party, emphasising that Accord operated as a unified body with no recognised factions.

The national chairman labelled the use of the title ‘factional chairman’ a ‘pure delusion’, emphasising that the party remained united under a single leadership recognised by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

“Imumolen is a political hireling and hustler seeking stomach infrastructure and has no political structure that will favour his preferred candidate in the election,” Mgbudem stated.

According to him, Osun remains Accord’s stronghold, noting that the electorate stand firmly with Adeleke ahead of the governorship election.

“The good people of Osun remain resolute, firm and steadfast in their support for Accord and their governor.

“Osun State is an Accord stronghold; the people are in one accord with Gov. Ademola Adeleke and will overwhelmingly vote for the party on Saturday, Aug.15,” he said.

Mgbudem called on INEC and security agencies to maintain neutrality, professionalism and impartiality throughout the exercise.

He also called for close monitoring of the election by international observers and that necessary sanctions should be imposed on any individual attempting to sabotage the democratic process.

In another development, the Tanimu Turaki-led faction of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has declared its support for Gov. Ademola Adeleke of Accord in the Saturday governorship election in Osun.

Mr Ini Ememobong, National Publicity Secretary, PDP Interim National Working Committee, disclosed this in a statement on Thursday in Abuja.

The News Agency of Nigeria NAN reports that Ememobong was reacting to the Court of Appeal judgment on the party’s candidate in the governorship election.

He commended the judgment which upheld the nomination of Adebayo Adedamola as the party’s candidate for the election in the state.

Ememobong said that the party’s lawyers had informed the NWC that the Court of Appeal sitting in Abuja on Thursday upheld the nomination of Adedamola, as submitted by the Turaki-led faction.

He also noted that the court directed the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to immediately include the party’s logo on the ballot for the election.

Ememobong said that the judgment confirmed what he described as bias and unceasing opposition by INEC against the Turaki-led INWC which, according to him, is the legitimate leadership of the party.

“The primaries that produced our candidate were peaceful, transparent, and the result uncontested.

“It was duly monitored by INEC, but the commission blatantly refused to recognise our candidate thereafter and withheld the codes for the upload of candidates from us.

“The party approached the court and today the Court of Appeal allowed the appeal by the Turaki-led PDP and directed INEC to include the party’s logo on the ballot papers for the elections,” Ememobong said.

He said that though justice had finally been done, the delay amounted to a denial, as there was no opportunity for Adedamola to undertake campaigns in preparation for the election.

Ememobong added that the situation, which he described as ugly, would have been avoided had INEC acted in a non-partisan way.

“Faced with the unimaginable difficulty that the situation put on PDP, the iNWC chose to throw its weight behind the Accord party candidate, Gov. Ademola Adeleke.

“As a true opposition party and in defence of multi-party democracy, and after exhaustive consultations with key stakeholders, the committee has decided to support the candidature of Gov. Adeleke of Accord party for Saturday’s governorship election.

“We therefore ask all our members to vote for Gov. Adeleke.

“We encourage them to go out on Saturday to vote, defend their votes and ensure that their votes count in the election,” he said.

Ememobong urged Nigerians to resist a do-or-die approach to election and the desperation of winning election against the clear wishes of the people.

“Elections must be a true reflection of the people’s wish, freely expressed through the ballot. Anything short of that is robbery and must not be allowed to stand,” he said.