The national leadership of Accord has disowned Dr Gbenga Olawepo-Hashim as its presidential candidate for the 2027 general elections.
The party’s National Chairman of the party, Mr Maxwell Mgbuden, who said this in a statement issued on Wednesday in Abuja, called on the public to disregard the report naming Olawepo-Hashim as Accord’s presidential candidate.
Mgbuden said that the purported presidential primary where Olawepo-Hashim reportedly emerged as candidate was not conducted by Accord and had no legal effect whatsoever.
“The purported presidential primary where he (Olawepo-Hashim) emerged as presidential candidate was not conducted by our great party and has no effect whatsoever,” he said.
Mgbuden said that the party had no presidential aspirant within the timeframe stipulated in its approved guidelines, timetable and schedule of activities communicated to INEC.
He said that no aspirant purchased an expression of interest and nomination forms for the presidency before the deadline, forcing the party to cancel its scheduled primary.
“Accordingly, the electoral umpire was duly notified of the cancellation of the party’s scheduled presidential primary election,” he stated.
Mgbuden said that Olawepo-Hashim expressed interest in contesting on May 26 after the expiration of the approved timeline for participation in the process.
He added that the payments of N10 million and N40 million made by Olawepo-Hashim for nomination forms were received after the process had concluded.
“In keeping with transparency, accountability and due process, the party instructed its bankers to reverse the payments to the originating account,” he said.
According to him, eligibility for nomination requires compliance with all guidelines, including purchase and submission of forms as well as participation in the screening exercise.
He maintained that the absence of other aspirants did not confer automatic entitlement to nomination, stressing that Accord currently has no presidential candidate for the 2027 presidential elections.
