Former Ekiti State Governor, Ayodele Fayose, has claimed that the Accord Party spent no less than N40bn during the August 15 Osun State governorship election.

Fayose made the claim in a video interview with TVC journalist, Nifemi Oguntoye, posted on the journalist’s X handle on Wednesday.

His comments followed claim by Afrobeats singer, David Adeleke, popularly known as Davido, who had alleged that the All Progressives Congress spent N110bn on vote-buying during the election.

Davido, who is the nephew of the incumbent governor and Accord Party’s candidate, Ademola Adeleke, also said the Accord Party did not spend money during the election but relied on the people of Osun State.

Reacting, Fayose said the two leading parties spent heavily during the election and dismissed claims that either side won solely through prayers or popular support.

“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 N7.5bn 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 for the figures he cited.

He said both the Accord Party and the APC spent 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.

Fayose also questioned the distribution of money shortly before the election, referring to the freezing of accounts by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission.

“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.

Fayose said the heavy spending did not diminish the significance of the election result, but argued that the margin between the two leading candidates was more important than their total votes.

The Accord candidate, Adeleke, polled 511,067 votes to defeat the APC candidate, Bola Oyebamiji, who secured 444,815 votes, a margin of 66,252 votes.

Fayose attributed a substantial part of the margin to Adeleke’s stronghold 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 dismissed the suggestion that the APC’s choice of candidate was solely responsible for its defeat, saying the Adeleke family’s political strength in Ede was a major factor.

On whether the APC should challenge the election result in court, Fayose said, “I think they should go to court.”

Asked whether he believed there was anything for the party to gain from doing so, he said the figures should be contested if there were grounds to do so.

“I believe it was pirated. That’s what I believe,” he said, referring to the votes recorded in Ede.

Fayose also maintained that President Bola Tinubu could have influenced the election in favour of the APC if he had wanted to, but chose not to.

He previously described Tinubu as “magnanimous” in his handling of the election, contrasting the Osun poll with his experience during the 2018 Ekiti governorship election.

Fayose, who remains a member of the Peoples Democratic Party, also dismissed the suggestion that the Osun result gave the opposition greater hope ahead of the 2027 elections.

He argued that the opposition’s failure to unite had weakened its chances.

“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. (The PUNCH)

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