Accord Party Says Its Governorship Candidate Did Not Step Down for PDP

The Ekiti State branch of the Accord Party has denied reports that its governorship candidate, Opeyemi Falegan, has pulled out of Saturday’s election to support the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate, Wole Oluyede.

On Thursday, the party’s state chairman, Adeniji Philip, told PREMIUM TIMES that the claim is false and urged people to ignore it.

“It’s information from the blues. It is not true and should be disregarded. We are still with our candidate. He has not stepped down for anybody and is ready for the election,” Mr Philip said.

This response came after a Facebook video went viral. In the video, Isaac Fayose, the younger brother of former Ekiti State Governor Ayodele Fayose, claimed that Mr Falegan had withdrawn from the race to support the PDP candidate.

The Oluyede Campaign Organisation confirmed that some leaders from the Accord Party had shown support but clarified that Mr Falegan had not officially endorsed the PDP candidate.

Idowu Adelusi, the campaign’s spokesperson, stated that the Accord Party’s deputy governorship candidate, Bayo Omoniyi, and other party leaders had declared their support for the PDP before Saturday’s election.

According to him, this declaration occurred at Mr Oluyede’s home in Ikere-Ekiti.

“Although the Accord governorship candidate himself has not formally declared support for our candidate, his running mate and other leaders of the party have joined us,” Mr Adelusi said.

He expressed confidence in the PDP’s chances of winning, saying that other political parties had also endorsed their candidate.

“With this development, we are surely going to win the election on Saturday because other parties have also declared for us,” he said.

Mr Adelusi named the other parties supporting the PDP as the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP), the National Democratic Congress (NDC), and the Young Progressives Party (YPP).