BY: Hafiz Rabiu & Habeeb Adisa
Claim/Full Text:
A video circulating on X claims that the Accord Party has withdrawn its support for Osun State Governor Ademola Adeleke and endorsed the All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship candidate, Munirudeen Bola Oyebamiji, ahead of the August 15, 2026 governorship election.
The video shows Prof. Christopher Imumolen appearing at an APC campaign rally in Osun State, where he mounts the stage alongside members of the APC campaign delegation and participates in chants associated with the party.
During the campaign event, Senate President Godswill Akpabio introduces and refers to Imumolen as the National Chairman of the Accord Party, before Imumolen announces that Accord has withdrawn its support for Adeleke and directs Accord members in Osun State to vote for Oyebamiji.
The reference by Akpabio to Imumolen as Accord’s National Chairman has added to questions surrounding the video, particularly because the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) currently lists Barr. Maxwell Mgbudem as the National Chairman of Accord.
The video is attracting significant engagement on X, prompting questions about whether Imumolen is actually the National Chairman of Accord and whether his endorsement of Oyebamiji represents the official position of the party as a whole.
Verdict: Misleading.
A video circulating on X shows Prof. Christopher Imumolen appeared at an All Progressives Congress (APC) campaign rally in Osun State, where he announced support for the party’s governorship candidate, Munirudeen Bola Oyebamiji, ahead of the August 15, 2026 governorship election.
The video shows Imumolen mounting a stage alongside members of the APC campaign delegation after joining in chants associated with the party. He subsequently announced that Accord had withdrawn its support for incumbent Governor Ademola Adeleke and directed Accord members in Osun to vote for Oyebamiji.
Verification:
Findings by FactCheckAfrica show that Imumolen leads a faction of Accord that has endorsed Oyebamiji, but he is not the National Chairman listed for Accord by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC). The commission’s current record identifies Barr. Maxwell Mgbudem as the party’s National Chairman.
Who is the man in the video?
The man in the video is Prof. Christopher Imumolen, a former presidential candidate of Accord who has been involved in a prolonged dispute over the leadership of the party.
A PUNCH report published on August 13, 2026, identified Imumolen as the “factional Accord Party chairman” and reported that he endorsed Oyebamiji during the APC mega rally in Osun. The report also stated that Imumolen replaced the yellow cap associated with Accord with an APC cap during the event.
Imumolen has previously claimed the national chairmanship of Accord. In April 2026, his supporters protested at INEC’s headquarters in Abuja, demanding that the commission recognise him as the party’s National Chairman. Reports of the dispute identified Imumolen and Mgbudem as competing claimants to the position.
Who does INEC recognise as Accord chairman?
INEC’s official political parties directory lists Barr. Maxwell Mgbudem as the National Chairman of Accord. It does not list Christopher Imumolen in that position.
Accord has experienced a prolonged internal leadership dispute involving Mgbudem and Imumolen.
In December 2025, a faction of the party instituted a case before the Federal Capital Territory High Court seeking, among other things, to affirm Mgbudem’s suspension and recognise Imumolen as his replacement. The case was filed by Oliver Bitrus, who argued that Mgbudem had been suspended by a faction of the party’s National Executive Committee.
The existence of this dispute explains why Imumolen has continued to use the title of National Chairman while Mgbudem remains the person listed by INEC.
More recent reporting also shows that the competing leadership structures have taken different political positions ahead of the Osun election.
What position has Mgbudem’s Accord taken?
On August 7, 2026, just six days before Imumolen’s appearance at the APC rally, Accord’s national headquarters published a statement identifying Maxwell Mgbudem as the National Chairman.
In the statement, Mgbudem urged Osun voters to support Governor Ademola Adeleke in the August 15 election. The party described Adeleke as deserving of a second term and called on voters to turn out and support his re-election.
The position was also reflected in other statements published by the Mgbudem-led Accord in early August. On August 3, the party said it backed Adeleke’s re-election, while on August 6 it criticised the freezing of Osun State Government accounts by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission and accused federal authorities of attempting to influence the election.
The evidence confirms that Christopher Imumolen appeared at an APC rally on August 13, 2026 and endorsed APC’s Bola Oyebamiji**. Independent reporting by PUNCH identifies him as the factional chairman of Accord and corroborates the endorsement.
However, INEC does not currently list Imumolen as Accord’s National Chairman. Its official record identifies Maxwell Mgbudem in that position.
There is also evidence that the Mgbudem-led Accord continued to support Adeleke. On August 7, 2026, Mgbudem publicly urged Osun voters to re-elect Adeleke, only days before Imumolen endorsed Oyebamiji.
Conclusion:
The claim that the Accord Party has withdrawn support for Ademola Adeleke and endorsed APC candidate Bola Oyebamiji is misleading without the factional context.
Christopher Imumolen, who appears in the video, is a leader and chairman claimant of a faction of Accord, and his faction has publicly endorsed Oyebamiji. The August 13 PUNCH report independently confirms the endorsement. However, INEC’s official record identifies Maxwell Mgbudem as Accord’s National Chairman, while the Mgbudem-led Accord publicly backed Adeleke on August 7, 2026.
