The African Democratic Congress (ADC) has revealed that it worked with the Accord Party during the August 15 Osun governorship election to prevent the All Progressives Congress (APC) from reclaiming power in the state.
This was just as the party explained that it identified the possibility of opposition votes being divided, which could have created an advantage for the APC.
ADC National Publicity Secretary, Bolaji Abdullahi, disclosed this on Trust TV on Monday while assessing the party’s performance in the election.
Recall that the ADC’s governorship candidate, Najeem Salaam, polled 17,180 votes, while the incumbent governor and Accord candidate, Ademola Adeleke, won the election with 511,067 votes.
Adeleke defeated the APC candidate, Bola Oyebamiji, who secured 444,815 votes.
Abdullahi said the ADC recognised early in the electoral process that opposition parties needed to work together to prevent the APC from benefiting from a divided vote.
“We saw the possibility of collaboration. We saw the possibility earlier enough that if we decided to go full throttle, the possibility that the opposition would divide the votes and the APC would take the victory was there,” he said.
“And that was why we saw the opportunity to work together, and that was what happened.”
The ADC spokesman said the failure of its candidate to win the governorship should not be interpreted as a defeat, insisting that the party’s primary objective was to stop the APC from returning to power in Osun.
“That is why we can confidently celebrate what is going on in Osun, because for us, victory means that APC was defeated,” Abdullahi said.
“So we don’t see the fact that our governorship candidate did not emerge as an occasion of defeat or failure. The failure, the defeat of the APC, was a real victory for us.”
Asked whether the ADC specifically directed its supporters to vote for Adeleke, Abdullahi said the party instead entered into a strategic cooperation with the Accord Party.
“We cooperated with the Accord Party,” he said, adding that the decision was deliberate and had the backing of the ADC leadership.
He said the outcome of the election had demonstrated that opposition parties could defeat the ruling APC when they put aside individual interests and work 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.
The ADC had earlier congratulated Adeleke on his victory, describing the result as a triumph for the people of Osun State and opposition forces that worked together against what it described as the “APC tyranny.”
In a statement issued on Sunday by Abdullahi, the party said the election had demonstrated that the machinery of government, financial resources and intimidation could not ultimately override the will of voters.
The party claimed that the APC deployed significant political and governmental resources to Osun, including governors, federal lawmakers and other senior officials, in an effort to secure victory for President Bola Tinubu’s party.
According to the ADC, the outcome showed that “no political machine is greater than a determined electorate.”
The party however urged the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to explain why the uploading of results to the INEC Result Viewing Portal (IReV) was halted for several hours on election night.
It questioned who directed the suspension of result uploads, particularly as the election was increasingly tilting against the APC.
Despite celebrating the result, Abdullahi said the ADC would not claim sole credit for Adeleke’s victory.
“When I say that we are not taking credit, we are saying that the credit belongs to the people of Osun State,” he said.
“The victory belongs to Ademola Adeleke, who, in spite of all odds, still managed to emerge as the governor of Osun State.”