The presidential candidate of the Accord Party, Gbenga Olawepo-Hashim, has said Osun State Governor Ademola Adeleke cannot compel residents of the state to vote for President Bola Tinubu in the 2027 presidential election, insisting that the governor is not the party’s national leader.
Olawepo-Hashim made the remarks on Tuesday, October 13, 2026, during an appearance on Channels Television’s Politics Today, following Adeleke’s inclusion in the All Progressives Congress Presidential Campaign Council as Osun coordinator.
The Accord Party candidate rejected suggestions that Adeleke’s position as the party’s only elected governor made him its national leader, arguing that party leadership rests with its executive structures.
“He can’t be the leader, he is a governor that was a beneficiary of office. When you have a party, you have the executive, the executive leaders of the party are the leaders of the party,” Olawepo-Hashim said.
Adeleke, who secured re-election as Osun governor in August 2026 under the Accord Party with 511,067 votes, has publicly endorsed Tinubu for a second term. His political alignment with the President has raised questions about how the development could affect the Accord Party’s position in the 2027 presidential election.
Olawepo-Hashim, however, maintained that the governor’s endorsement would not automatically translate into votes for Tinubu across Osun State.
“The fact that he won his election as governor, Governor Adeleke cannot compel the people of Osun State to vote for Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu,” he said.
Describing Osun residents as people with a history of independent political choices, the Accord candidate expressed confidence that they would support his party in the presidential election, regardless of Adeleke’s position.
The statement comes as Adeleke departed Osun for Abuja on Wednesday for the inauguration of the APC 2027 Presidential Campaign Council at the Banquet Hall of the Presidential Villa. A video showing the governor walking toward a private jet with his protocol team began trending on X ahead of the event.
The Allied Peoples Movement in Osun also dismissed the appointment. Its chairman, Wale Adebayo, said the inclusion would not guarantee victory for the APC.
“Osun State has a politically sophisticated electorate capable of making independent decisions during elections. His inclusion in the revised APC Presidential Campaign Council list does not guarantee Tinubu’s victory in Osun in the coming general election,” Adebayo said.
“Osun people are politically sophisticated and will vote based on their conscience, not on whose name appears on a campaign council list,” he added.
