ADC didn’t fail Osun guber poll, we tactically worked for Adeleke, Accord to defeat APC – Bolaji Abdullahi

The National Publicity Secretary of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Bolaji Abdullahi, has revealed that the party collaborated with the Accord Party during the August 15 Osun governorship election to prevent the All Progressives Congress (APC) from winning the poll.

Abdullahi disclosed this during an interview with Trust TV on Monday while discussing the ADC’s performance in the election.

The ADC candidate, Najeem Salaam, polled 17,180 votes, while the Accord candidate and incumbent governor, Ademola Adeleke, secured 511,067 votes to defeat the APC candidate, Bola Oyebamiji, who scored 444,815 votes.

‘APC Defeat Was Victory for Us’

Abdullahi said the ADC had anticipated that the opposition vote could be divided, potentially allowing the APC to win the election.

According to him, the party therefore decided to cooperate with Accord to prevent such an outcome.

“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.

He said the ADC did not consider its candidate’s performance a failure because its primary objective was to prevent 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 directed its supporters to vote for Adeleke, Abdullahi said the party cooperated with the Accord Party, adding that the decision had the backing of the ADC leadership.

‘Opposition Can Defeat APC When United’

Abdullahi said the Osun election demonstrated that opposition parties could defeat the APC if they worked together.

He argued that the experience could serve as a model for opposition parties ahead of the 2027 presidential election.

“It has proved that the opposition working together can actually defeat this incumbent, no matter how awesome they are,” he said.

However, 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.

He added that the victory ultimately belonged to Adeleke, who retained his position despite the political challenges surrounding the election.

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