Hours after Osun State Governor, Ademola Adeleke, resigned from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), some delegates and officials of the party have converged for the PDP governorship primary ahead of the August 8, 2026, gubernatorial election in the state.
Many party leaders and members stormed the Atlantis Multipurpose Hall, Ring Road, Osogbo, the capital of Osun State, on Tuesday morning, and the primary election is underway under tight security as at the time of this report.
The party’s state chairman, Sunday Bisi, had on Monday declared that the governorship primary would not hold as scheduled.
But the factional national leadership of the party insisted that it would conduct its primary election despite the exit of Governor Adeleke, who was said to be the only aspirant who obtained a nomination form.
Bisi had informed selected journalists on Monday that the suspension and counter-suspension of key national officers, who play statutory roles in conducting congresses and primaries and in transmitting candidates’ names to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), had thrown the process into confusion.
He further stated that due to the crisis rocking the national leadership of the PDP, Governor Adeleke might no longer be interested in seeking the party’s ticket for the 2026 Osun governorship election unless an INEC-recognised resolution is reached within the stipulated timeline.
Hours later, a resignation letter signed by Governor Adeleke surfaced online, dated November 4, 2025, in which he cited the party’s national leadership crisis as his reason for quitting.
However, the PDP national secretariat, through its National Organising Secretary, Theophilus Shan, maintained in a letter dated December 1, 2025, that the primary would proceed as planned on December 2, 2025.
The letter read, “Sequel to the earlier notice of 28th October, 2025 to the gubernatorial primaries and the successful completion of congresses to elect ad-hoc delegates and National delegates in Osun State on the 24th and 29th of November, 2025, the Party hereby reminds strategic stakeholders and the general public that the primaries to elect the gubernatorial candidate will hold on December 2nd, 2025 at Atlantis Multipurpose Hall, Ring road, Osogbo, Osun State, 10 am.”
He noted that the Electoral Committee for the primary has been constituted and will oversee the conduct of the exercise accordingly.
The letter advised, “The candidates cleared for the primaries are advised to behave in accordance with the provisions of our party’s constitution and in the interest of law and order, as any act of indiscipline will be severely punished.”
The Guardian reports that officials and members of the PDP are currently holding the primary, which is expected to produce a governorship candidate for the party ahead of the poll.
