Published by Oravbiere Osayomore Promise.
The Accord Party has firmly dismissed the claim of its 2023 presidential candidate, Professor Christopher Imumolen, to the position of the party’s National Chairman, stating unequivocally that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has no legal basis to recognise him. The party’s rejection came after Imumolen led a protest at the INEC headquarters in Abuja on Tuesday, where he demanded recognition based on what he described as a subsisting court order. Reacting at a press conference in Abuja on Thursday, the party’s National Chairman, Barrister Maxwell Mgbudem, characterised Imumolen’s action as “showmanship by a political neophyte,” aimed at misleading the public and fabricating a leadership crisis where none exists. He insisted that the Accord Party remains united and that the electoral body should disregard Imumolen's claims entirely.
The protest, which saw a handful of supporters carrying placards, was a move that Mgbudem and the party’s leadership described as a futile attempt to gain cheap publicity. According to the National Chairman, the Accord Party has no faction or leadership dispute, and any suggestion to the contrary is an invention by individuals with “inordinate ambition.” Mgbudem dismissed Imumolen’s alleged court order, stating that the only document the expelled presidential candidate possesses is an expired ex parte ruling obtained from the Federal Capital Territory High Court in August 2024. He stressed that such interim orders lapse after seven days and carry no legal weight for any substantive claim of leadership. “There is no leadership dispute or faction in Accord, and there is no court order in favour of Imumolen or anybody for INEC to comply with,” Mgbudem told journalists. “If there is a court order, Imumolen would have carried and displayed it like a trophy instead of carrying an awkward placard. He failed to provide the purported court order to journalists he invited for their news reports as it exists in his fertile imagination after a political hallucination.”
Mgbudem explained that the origins of the dispute lie in Imumolen’s attempt to forcefully take over the party’s national secretariat in August 2024, an action that was swiftly resisted by the party through the courts. The Accord Party disclosed that Imumolen was expelled from the party along with 10 others in November 2024 for anti-party activities, a decision reached by the disciplinary committee and subsequently ratified by the party’s National Executive Committee. The party maintained that Imumolen’s repeated attempts to challenge his expulsion and lay claim to the leadership in court have been consistently dismissed. The National Chairman revealed that a suit filed by Imumolen was struck out by an FCT High Court in July 2025 for want of jurisdiction, with the judge ruling that the matter was a “non-justiciable intra-party leadership dispute.”
The legal history of the leadership battle is central to the Accord Party’s position. Mgbudem explained that what Imumolen still parades as a court order was an ex parte order he obtained in an FCT court, which the party immediately moved to set aside after he broke into the secretariat. Subsequent rulings from the court noted that interim orders lapse after seven days, and the status quo was ordered to be maintained. The court affirmed that Imumolen and his cohorts had vacated the party’s national secretariat. “This clear judgement of the court buried whatever inordinate ambition Imumolen has in Accord,” Mgbudem said, quoting the court’s decision. The party leadership accused the former presidential candidate of engaging in “forum shopping” in the courts, a practice that the Supreme Court has condemned.
Beyond the legal and disciplinary history, the Accord Party also took issue with Imumolen’s actions at the INEC protest, which the National Chairman labelled an embarrassment. He characterised Imumolen as a “political merchant” and his protest as a “poorly scripted show with a few sponsored individuals.” The party also highlighted the conflicting nature of Imumolen’s claims, noting that while he demanded recognition as the party’s chairman, he at other times acted as though he were the presidential candidate. “He wants to be the candidate and the Chairman. That is the confusion of a man who is lost,” Mgbudem remarked. The party urged citizens and prospective aspirants to be mindful of Imumolen, accusing him of attempting to create the impression of a crisis where none exists for his own political survival.
The recent protest at INEC is a tactic that the party’s leadership insisted would not distract it from its core political objectives. Accord stated that it remains a unified party focused on upcoming elections, including the Ekiti and Osun governorship contests, as well as the 2027 general elections. The party’s statement was also meant to clear the air and prevent any misunderstanding among its members and the public. As political activities gather momentum, Accord is eager to project an image of stability and avoid being dragged into a distracting and ultimately futile leadership battle. “Accord dissociates itself from Imumolen’s misplaced showmanship at INEC headquarters,” the National Chairman declared. “Imumolen’s distraction has been adequately addressed by the party.”
The crisis has deepened factional strife within the party, as both the Mgbudem and Imumolen factions have claimed legitimacy and held parallel activities, including primaries for the Osun State governorship election. However, INEC currently recognises Mgbudem and his National Working Committee as the legitimate leadership of the Accord Party, a fact that significantly strengthens the party’s position. The Commission, which received Imumolen’s protest delegation, stated it would consider the group’s submission, but no change in recognition is imminent. With the party’s legal and administrative structures firmly under the control of Mgbudem, Imumolen’s bid for recognition appears to be an uphill battle that has been met with a formidable wall of rejection from the very institution he seeks to lead.
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