Former presidential candidate joins 2027 race on Accord Party platform

Gbenga Olawepo-Hashim, the 2019 Peoples Trust Party (PTP) presidential candidate, has formally declared his intention to contest the 2027 presidential election on the platform of the Accord Party.

In a statement issued by his media office on Tuesday, May 26, Olawepo-Hashim revealed that his political movement has already mobilised more than one million supporters into the Accord Party across the country.

He added that the mobilisation drive is still ongoing as part of preparations for the forthcoming 2027 general elections.

According to him, the extensive grassroots effort is designed to build a strong, nationwide political movement capable of providing Nigerians with a credible alternative in the next election cycle.

“We have quietly mobilised about one million of our supporters into the Accord Party, and we are still doing so,” Olawepo-Hashim said.

The presidential candidate also described comments by a governor suggesting that the Accord Party would not field a presidential candidate in 2027 as an unacceptable overreach.

He emphasised hat no individual has the sole power to determine who becomes Nigeria’s next president.

“That is an overreach for him. The presidency of Nigeria is too big for anyone to allocate. It is in the hands of God and the Nigerian people.

“I know the governor is scared stiff that if he does not go about dancing and declaring support for the incumbent president in a rival party, they would rig him out. But that does not give him the power to allocate the presidency,” he added.

Olawepo-Hashim warned against attempts to predetermine electoral outcomes, noting that political power ultimately resides with the electorate.

“When power changes hands, those who think they can control it will be shocked and humbled,” he said.