Osun PDP Implodes as Leadership Feud Errupts Over Adeleke’s Pivot to Accord

​OSOGBO – The political landscape of Osun State has been thrown into a tailspin as the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) suffers a massive internal rupture. The crisis stems from a fierce leadership battle and a controversial directive mandating party structures to support Governor Ademola Adeleke’s re-election bid under the banner of the Accord Party.

​The state chapter is currently split between a faction led by Sunday Bisi, the embattled state chairman, and a National Working Committee (NWC)-backed caretaker committee led by Tunde Tijani, with Seyi Bamidele serving as secretary.

​The ‘Accord’ Ultimatum

​The friction reached a boiling point during an enlarged stakeholders’ meeting in Osogbo on Monday. Sunday Bisi, leading the State Working Committee (SWC) that remains loyal to the Governor despite its purported dissolution by the national body, ordered all party organs to collapse their support into the Accord Party.

​“After careful consideration of the overriding interest of the Osun people, the Osun PDP hereby directs all our structures—from polling units to the state executive committee—to move en masse and give total, unalloyed support to the re-election of Governor Ademola Adeleke under the platform of Accord,” Bisi declared.

​Bisi framed the move as a “strategic advance,” citing the Governor’s milestones in healthcare and infrastructure as reasons why his second term must be secured at any cost, even if it means abandoning the PDP umbrella.

​Internal Resistance and Legal Warnings

​The Tanimu Turaki-led NWC had previously dissolved the Bisi-led executive, replacing them with a caretaker committee to steer the party’s affairs. Seyi Bamidele, the caretaker secretary, was quick to fire back, describing Bisi’s directive as “null, void, and of no consequence.”

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​Bamidele asserted that the PDP remains a formidable, independent platform and that the dissolved executive has no legal standing to negotiate alliances. “Matters relating to coalitions or political partnerships fall strictly within the prerogative of the national leadership. No individual or dissolved organ has the power to appropriate that responsibility,” he stated.

​A State in Flux

​The chaos follows Governor Adeleke’s high-profile exit from the PDP in late 2025, a move he attributed to the intractable internal crises rocking the party’s national structure. His defection triggered a wave of resignations, including members of the State House of Assembly who also migrated to Accord.

​Just days ago, the Governor further strengthened his new political base by receiving former Secretary to the State Government (SSG), Alhaji Moshood Adeoti, and his loyalists into the Accord Party, signaling a massive realignment of the state’s political heavyweights.

​The Countdown to August 15

​The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) recently adjusted the timetable for the Osun gubernatorial poll. Originally set for August 8, the election is now fixed for August 15, 2026.

​As the date approaches, the PDP faces the grim prospect of going into the election without a unified front or a clear candidate, while Governor Adeleke appears to be successfully transplanting the PDP’s grassroots machinery into the Accord Party