Former Ekiti State Governor, Ayodele Fayose, has claimed that the Accord Party spent at least N40 billion during the August 15 Osun State governorship election.
Fayose made the allegation in a video interview with TVC journalist, Nifemi Oguntoye, shared on the journalist’s X handle on Wednesday.
His comments came in response to Afrobeats singer, David Adeleke, popularly known as Davido, who alleged that the All Progressives Congress spent N110 billion on vote-buying during the election.
Davido, who is the nephew of the incumbent governor and Accord Party candidate, Ademola Adeleke, had also claimed that the Accord Party did not spend money during the election, but relied on the people of Osun State.
However, Fayose dismissed the claim, insisting that both major parties spent heavily during the poll.
“Accord Party led the opponents. The money that went to that election from the Accord party itself cannot be under N40 billion. I stand to be corrected,” Fayose said.
He further alleged that more than N7.5 billion was distributed to various local governments and wards shortly before the election.
“Secondly, on Monday, they sent over N7.5 billion to the various local governments. Various wards. The minimum for the wards that got the minimum would be about N35 million.
“In a ward of about 7, 8, 9 polling units,” he said.
Fayose, however, did not provide evidence to support the figures he cited.
He maintained that both the Accord Party and the APC spent far beyond the legal threshold for election expenditure.
“The fact remains that both parties spent stupendously. They spent beyond the threshold like every other political party,” he said.
The former governor also questioned the timing of the alleged distribution of funds, linking it to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission’s freezing of the Osun State Government’s accounts shortly before the election.
“The 1n20 million that went out like a week before the election that prompted the EFCC to freeze their account shows that something is not right.
“Why don’t you send those to the people six months ago?” he asked.
Despite the alleged heavy spending, Fayose said the election result remained significant, stressing that the margin between the two leading candidates was more important than their overall vote totals.
The Accord Party candidate, Ademola Adeleke, garnered 511,067 votes to defeat the APC candidate, Bola Oyebamiji, who scored 444,815 votes, giving Adeleke a margin of 66,252 votes.
Fayose attributed a substantial part of Adeleke’s victory to his strong political base in Ede.
“The Adelekes are rooted in their hometown. Omisore or APC has no presence. So courting an Omisore or giving an Omisore the nomination, what would it change? Nothing.
“Because 66,000 votes differential, 46,000 from Ede alone. You can’t do nothing about it.”
He also rejected the suggestion that the APC’s choice of candidate was solely responsible for its defeat, arguing that the Adeleke family’s political influence in Ede played a major role.
Asked whether the APC should challenge the election result in court, Fayose said, “I think they should go to court.”
Asked if he believed there was anything for the party to gain from such a legal challenge, he said the results should be contested if there were sufficient grounds.
“I believe it was pirated. That’s what I believe,” he said, referring to the votes recorded in Ede.
Fayose further argued that President Bola Tinubu could have influenced the election in favour of the APC if he had chosen to do so, but opted not to interfere.
He had described Tinubu as “magnanimous” in his handling of the Osun election, comparing it with his experience during the 2018 Ekiti governorship election.
The former governor, who remains a member of the Peoples Democratic Party, also dismissed suggestions that the Osun election result had strengthened the opposition’s chances ahead of the 2027 general elections.
According to him, the opposition had lost an opportunity by failing to unite.
“The only thing that can give them hope has passed, which is they are coming together. They have failed to come together, and
they cannot retrieve that back. That is certain,” he said.
