The African Democratic Congress (ADC) has said its decision to work with the Accord Party during the August 15 Osun State governorship election was aimed at preventing the All Progressives Congress (APC) from returning to power in the state.

The party’s National Publicity Secretary, Bolaji Abdullahi, disclosed this while evaluating the ADC’s performance in the election and explaining the modest number of votes secured by its candidate, Najeem Salaam.

Abdullahi said the party had considered the possibility that a divided opposition could give the APC an advantage by splitting votes among several candidates.

He said the ADC chose to cooperate with the Accord Party, on whose platform Governor Ademola Adeleke contested and won re-election.

Adeleke secured 511,067 votes to defeat the APC candidate, Bola Oyebamiji, who polled 444,815 votes, while Salaam received 17,180 votes.

Abdullahi said the ADC did not view Salaam’s vote as a reflection of the party’s overall performance, arguing that its main objective was to prevent the APC from reclaiming the state.

He added that the decision had the support of the party’s leadership and was based on careful consideration of the political situation in Osun.

According to him, if several opposition parties had competed separately, the opposition vote could have been split, improving the APC’s chances of victory.

The ADC spokesman said the outcome showed how cooperation among opposition parties could influence an election when they share a common objective.

The APC has since announced plans to review the outcome of the election, while the ADC maintains that preventing the party from returning to power was a significant achievement.