Accord Party Rejects Olawepo-Hashim as Presidential Candidate for 2027

The national leadership of Accord has said Gbenga Olawepo-Hashim is not their presidential candidate for the 2027 general election. They stated that the party did not hold a presidential primary nor did they choose any candidate for the election.

Maxwell Mgbuden, the party’s National Chairman, shared this information in a statement from Abuja.

This announcement comes two days after Olawepo-Hashim's office claimed he was the candidate following primaries that allegedly had a large turnout of party members and supporters from various states.

But Mgbuden said the event where he was declared a candidate was not recognised by the party. He described it as just a gathering of Olawepo-Hashim's supporters.

He said, "The purported presidential primary where he emerged as the ‘presidential candidate of Accord’ as widely reported in the national media was not conducted by our great party and has no effect whatsoever.

“It was a fanfare by his supporters, which should not be misconstrued as the party’s presidential primary. It was not."

Mgbuden emphasized that there was no valid presidential aspirant in line with the party’s guidelines, timetable, and schedule submitted to the Independent National Electoral Commission.

He explained that although many aspirants bought nomination forms for governorship, National Assembly, and state legislative positions, no one completed the process to contest for the presidency within the set timeline.

He added that Olawepo-Hashim only showed interest in running for president through a letter dated May 26, 2026. This was after the deadline for submitting and screening aspirants had passed.

“As a result, the electoral umpire was duly notified of the cancellation of the party’s scheduled presidential primary,” the statement noted.

Mgbuden disclosed that Olawepo-Hashim paid a total of N50 million after the nomination process had closed. This amount included N10 million for the expression of interest form and N40 million for the nomination form.

“It was after the elapse of the party’s timeframe for the purchase of the expression of interest and nomination forms as well as the screening of any aspirant for president that Dr Gbenga Olawepo-Hashim paid for the said forms into the party’s bank account,” the statement said.

The party instructed its bankers to reverse the payments to the original account since they could not be processed after the nomination exercise had ended.

“In keeping with the Accord’s cherished principles of transparency, accountability, and due process, the party instructed its bankers to reverse the payments of N10,000,000 and N40,000,000, expression of interest and nomination forms fees respectively to the originating bank,” it stated.

Accord also rejected Olawepo-Hashim’s claim that he should be the candidate just because no other aspirants sought the position. They stressed that following their nomination rules is necessary no matter how many people are interested.

“The absence of other aspirants would not dispense with these mandatory conditions nor confer automatic entitlement to nomination,” Mgbuden explained.

The leadership also informed Olawepo-Hashim in a letter dated May 31 that his expression of interest and his petition could not be processed because they were submitted late.

“For now, Accord has no presidential candidate for the 2027 general election. The party, however, nominated candidates for governorship and legislative offices,” Mgbuden concluded.