The All Progressives Congress, APC, legal team in Osun State and Adebayo Adedamola, the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, governorship candidate have disowned petitions purportedly filed to challenge Governor Ademola Adeleke’s victory.
The denials followed the display of two separate petitions on the notice board of the Osun State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal in Osogbo on Monday.
One petition lists Bola Oyebamiji, the APC candidate, and the party as petitioners, while the other names Adedamola as the petitioner.
The first petition, marked EPT/OS/GOV/01/2026, lists Oyebamiji and the APC as petitioners, with Adeleke, Accord and the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, as respondents.
The second petition, marked EPT/OS/GOV/02/2026, lists Adedamola as the petitioner, with INEC, Accord and Adeleke as respondents.
Pefe Belemore, secretary of the tribunal, confirmed that petitions challenging the outcome of the August 15 governorship election had been filed.
However, the APC legal team said it did not authorize any petition challenging Adeleke’s victory, while Adedamola said neither he nor his counsel had filed a petition against the governor.
Adekunle Adegoke, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, SAN, and one of the leaders of the APC legal team, told Punch that the lawyers had advised Oyebamiji, the party’s candidate, against approaching the tribunal after the election.
Adegoke said the legal team met with Oyebamiji and other party leaders after the results were announced and agreed that pursuing litigation would not be in the best interest of the state.
He said the legal team had been led by four SANs — Biodun Layoonu, Yomi Aliyu, Adegoke and Muritala Abdulrasheed — and that they had advised Oyebamiji that the best course of action was not to challenge the result at the tribunal.
According to Adegoke, the decision was motivated by a desire to reduce tension and allow peace to prevail in Osun State.
“We don’t have anything personal against Nurudeen Adeleke, the governor, or any other person in another party, whether PDP or Accord,” he said.
Also Read: Osun tribunal displays APC, PDP petitions against Adeleke
Adegoke said the legal team was aware of “valid grounds” to challenge the result but chose not to pursue litigation in order to allow the people of the state to “rest”.
Adegoke said Oyebamiji’s decision to congratulate Adeleke after the election was consistent with the legal team’s advice.
He said Oyebamiji had voluntarily congratulated Adeleke after the results were announced on August 16, questioning how the APC candidate could subsequently have authorized a petition against the governor.
“Our client, having willingly, without pressure, without duress, congratulated Governor Adeleke, do you now think it will be legitimate as a man of honour for Asiwaju Munirudeen Bola Oyebamiji to go behind and authorize the filing of a petition?” Adegoke asked.
He described the petition displayed at the tribunal as a document filed by individuals “masquerading as APC lawyers”.
“I want to be on record that the APC legal team has denounced the bundle of papers filed by some individuals masquerading as APC lawyers. It was not authorized by APC as a party or its candidate,” he said.
Adedamola, the PDP governorship candidate, also denied authorizing or filing any petition challenging Adeleke’s victory.
Speaking to TVC, Adedamola said neither his lawyer nor any PDP leader had informed him of a decision to challenge the election.
“There’s no petition filed by me or my counsel. So, I don’t know where they manufactured the petition they submitted at the tribunal,” he said.
Adedamola said he had no reason to challenge Adeleke because he had publicly supported the governor before the election and voted for him. He recalled that the PDP held a press conference on August 13 at which it declared support for Adeleke.
“There has never been any meeting where a decision has been reached to challenge the decision of the court,” he said.
“I even voted for Governor Adeleke of the Accord party. Why would I now change today and be filing any petition against him?”
Adeleke, the Accord candidate, was declared the winner of the August 15 governorship election after securing 511,067 votes.
The Cable
