By A wave of political unease has settled over the Accord Party in Osun State following Governor Ademola Adeleke’s recent visits to President Bola Tinubu and the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, in the days after his August 15 re-election. For a base that spent the campaign season bracing against the ruling APC, the sight of their governor courting the President’s inner circle so soon after victory has revived old fears of a defection, many describe as unthinkable.
The Visits That Sparked the Rumour
Shortly after collecting his Certificate of Return, Adeleke travelled to the Presidential Villa in Abuja to see President Tinubu, accompanied by a delegation that included the Director-General of his campaign council, Senator Lere Oyewumi, House of Assembly Speaker Rt. Hon. Adewale Egbedun, council member Sunday Bisi, Chief of Staff Kazeem Akinleye, and Bamidele Salam, who represents the Ede North, Ede South, Egbedore and Ejigbo federal constituency. From there, the governor called on Wike at his Abuja residence, again presenting his certificate of return. Word of the two visits spread quickly on social media, where Accord supporters openly questioned what they called the governor’s renewed warmth toward politicians long viewed as adversaries.
The Campaign Council’s Defence
The Imole Campaign Council, which steered Adeleke’s re-election bid, moved swiftly to contain the fallout. Speaking for the council, Bamidele Salam, who chairs its Media and Publicity Committee, described the trips as nothing more than the customary courtesy calls newly returned governors traditionally pay after off-cycle elections, framing them as a gesture of appreciation to the presidency for directing INEC and security agencies to ensure a credible poll in Osun. Salam was unequivocal that no discussion of a party switch took place, stating plainly that at no stage during the visit was decamping to the APC ever raised.
A Base That Remains Unconvinced
Despite the council’s assurances, many grassroots members say the explanation glosses over what they endured in the run-up to the election, citing months of withheld local government allocations, alleged police harassment, and the forced takeover of motor parks by suspected APC sympathisers as grievances that make any thaw with the ruling party hard to stomach. A party stakeholder in Ilesha, who spoke on condition of anonymity, argued that the road to this win was littered with hardship the ruling party inflicted on Accord members and that such sacrifice should not be forgotten so soon after the votes were counted.
Another supporter in Ile-Ife, also speaking anonymously, took a gentler line, cautioning that whatever the governor decides next, he owes it to the people who stood by him when the going was toughest to think the decision through carefully.
Distancing the Victory From Tinubu
In a separate effort to shape the post-election narrative, the Imole Campaign Council also pushed back on any suggestion that Tinubu’s goodwill had a hand in Adeleke’s win. Council spokesperson Pelumi Olajengbesi argued instead that the APC had, if anything, worked against the sitting governor, deploying state machinery and resources in support of its own candidate during the campaign. He pointed to the muted reaction from the governor’s nephew, singer Davido, as evidence that the Adeleke camp received no federal favour, insisting the victory rested squarely on the governor’s own standing with Osun voters.
Reading the Moment
These two clarifications, one denying a defection plot and the other denying federal help, reveal a campaign council working to hold two contradictory narratives in balance: that Adeleke owes Tinubu nothing, even as he pays him a very public visit. Whether that balancing act calms Accord’s rattled base or simply postpones a bigger reckoning may depend less on statements from Abuja and more on what the governor actually does in the months ahead.
