The Imole Campaign Council has dismissed speculation that Osun State Governor, Ademola Adeleke, is preparing to dump Accord for the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), describing the reports as completely unfounded.
The council said Adeleke’s visit to President Bola Tinubu at the State House, Abuja, on Thursday was strictly a post-election engagement and had nothing to do with defection to the APC.
Adeleke visited Tinubu days after securing re-election in the keenly contested Osun governorship election, triggering speculation in political circles that the meeting could pave the way for his movement into the ruling party.
But the Imole Campaign Council, in a statement issued on Friday by its Chairman, Media and Publicity, Bamidele Salam, said there was no discussion whatsoever about Adeleke joining the APC.
Salam, who is also Chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on Public Accounts, said the governor’s visit was in keeping with established political tradition following off-cycle elections.
According to him, having emerged victorious in the election, Adeleke had a responsibility to pay his respects to the President and ommander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces.
“The visit also afforded Mr President, as the father of the nation, and the Osun State Governor a platform to discuss issues pertaining to peace, security and progress of Osun State after the tense election,” Salam said.
He stressed that the meeting should not be misconstrued as a political negotiation for Adeleke’s defection.
“For the avoidance of doubt, the visit of Mr Governor and top members of his campaign team had absolutely nothing to do with a plan to move from Accord to the All Progressives Congress, as insinuated in certain quarters,” he said.
“We wish to state unequivocally that at no stage during the visit to Mr President was the issue of decamping to the APC discussed.”
The council’s position came amid heightened political speculation following Adeleke’s decisive victory in the Osun election, with the governor’s engagement with Tinubu immediately becoming a subject of intense political interpretation.
Speaking with journalists in Abuja on Friday, the spokesperson for the Imole Campaign Council, Pelumi Olajengbesi, said Adeleke’s discussions with the President centred on strengthening democracy, promoting peace and ensuring greater unity in Osun State.
Olajengbesi described the election as one of the most fiercely contested political battles in the state’s recent history.
“The election was tense. The election was more or less like a war,” he said.
He also rejected claims that the African Democratic Congress (ADC) worked with Accord to deliver Adeleke’s victory, insisting that the governor’s re-election was driven by the will of Osun voters.
According to the final results, Adeleke polled 511,067 votes to defeat his closest challenger, Bola Oyebamiji of the APC, who secured 444,815 votes.
The campaign council maintained that Adeleke’s victory belonged to the people of Osun and that the governor remained committed to the political platform on which he contested the election.
