The Accord Party says it is unaware why the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, omitted its presidential candidate, Dr Gbenga Olawepo-Hashim, from the final list of candidates for the 2027 general elections.
Dele Oladeji, the Lagos State Chairman and Secretary of the party’s South-West zone, said the omission was unexpected, as Olawepo-Hashim emerged as the party’s consensus candidate after meeting the requirements to contest the election.
Oladeji expressed confidence that the court would resolve the matter in favour of Olawepo-Hashim and uphold his candidacy.
He said this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria on Sunday in Lagos while reacting to INEC’s publication of the final list of presidential candidates for the 2027 general elections.
According to him, three members of the party initially expressed interest in the presidential ticket, but the party later adopted Olawepo-Hashim as its consensus candidate.
“Three dependable members of the party aspired for the presidential ticket. They were of good character and had good career paths, among other qualities.
“At some point, Dr Gbenga Olawepo became our candidate because we adopted him as our consensus candidate.
“But whatever it is, he was not captured by INEC. We don’t know why; it is not known to the party. All we know is that we heard the news in the media that we don’t have a presidential candidate, when we, as party leaders and state executives, adopted Dr Gbenga Olawepo,” he said.
Oladeji said Olawepo-Hashim fulfilled the requirements for the contest, including payment of the prescribed nomination fees, before emerging as the party’s consensus candidate.
“For whatever reason, he was not listed by INEC, and this has led him to approach the court. The man met every requirement after paying the nomination fees.
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“As a party, at the national level, we are looking to the court to give a favourable judgement for the democratic process.
“Our candidate is Dr Gbenga Olawepo, after emerging through a consensus, but there was a compromise around his mandate that he has gone to the court to correct,” he said.
The party chairman said its leadership remained hopeful that the court would deliver a favourable judgement, stressing that Accord was committed to contesting the 2027 election under its platform.
“The best of our hope in the national leadership of the party is that Dr Gbenga Olawepo should get a good judgement in court.
“That is what we are looking for at the national level. We are hopeful he is going to win in court. So, we are going into the election as Accord, and we are winning as Accord.
“The National Executive Council of the party and national officers are very optimistic of a favourable judgement for Dr Gbenga Olawepo at the court.
“We are very hopeful that his mandate will be restored. This wish and hope is shared by members of the party across Nigeria,” Oladeji said.
He also dismissed reports of factionalization within the party, saying the controversy surrounding its presidential candidacy was not the result of internal factions. “We only have an impostor, in the person of Prof. Imumolen,” he said.
On the possibility of Accord aligning with other political parties if the issue remained unresolved, Oladeji said the party had no such plan.
“We are not aligning with other political parties,” he said, reiterating that the party expected the court to deliver a favourable judgement for Olawepo-Hashim.
NAN
