The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) backed by the minister of Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, has said the withdrawal of Governor Ademola Adeleke from its nomination process was the reason it did not field a candidate in the Saturday’s governorship election in Osun state.
This was disclosed by the party’s National Publicity Secretary, Jungudo Haruna Mohammed, who made this known in a statement on Friday, while reacting to reports surrounding Thursday’s Court of Appeal judgment on the party’s participation in the August 15 election.
Mohammed said Adeleke was the only aspirant who purchased the party’s Expression of Interest and Nomination Forms and was screened and cleared to participate in the governorship primary scheduled for December 2, 2025.
According to him, all notices concerning the proposed primary had been transmitted to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) on October 27, 2025, by the then National Chairman, Umar Iliya Damagum, and National Secretary, Samuel Anyanwu.
He said the situation changed after Adeleke withdrew his aspiration amid the deepening crisis within the PDP, particularly from November 1, 2025.
“Consequently, the PDP was left without a candidate for the August 15, 2026 Osun State off-cycle governorship election,” Mohammed said.
The statement came against the backdrop of claims that Thursday’s Court of Appeal judgment had recognised the faction of the PDP led by Kabiru Tanimu Turaki and, by extension, validated a candidate nominated by the group for the Osun election.
However, the PDP rejected the insinuations, insisting that the appellate court’s judgment was limited to the dispute concerning the Osun governorship nomination and did not determine the legitimate leadership of the party.
The party described attempts to link the judgment to the recognition of the Turaki-led faction as “misleading” and politically motivated.
“For the avoidance of doubt, the question of who constitutes the legitimate leadership of the PDP has long been settled and was not one of the reliefs sought by the plaintiffs in the suit that culminated in the Court of Appeal judgment,” it said.
Mohammed claimed that the PDP leadership backed by the FCT Minister was unaware of the suit until the appellate court delivered its judgment on Thursday.
He consequently raised questions over the process through which any purported PDP candidate for the Osun election may have emerged.
“If yesterday’s Court of Appeal judgment is now being interpreted as having produced or recognised a PDP candidate, several fundamental questions arise: What nomination process produced the candidate? When was the process conducted? Who conducted it? Under whose authority was it conducted? When was the nomination submitted to INEC?” he asked.
The PDP said those questions could not be settled through political statements or interpretations of the judgment, stressing that the nomination dispute and the broader leadership crisis within the party were separate matters.
It also said it respected the judiciary and would accept the Supreme Court as the final authority should the correctness of the Court of Appeal decision be challenged.
The party warned members of the public and media organisations against treating statements purportedly issued by the Turaki group as evidence of its recognition as the legitimate leadership of the PDP.
According to the party, “no attempt to twist, distort or rewrite the effect of a court judgment” could alter what it described as the legal reality concerning its leadership.
The PDP said it had moved beyond its internal crisis and was concentrating on rebuilding its structures, strengthening unity and preparing for the 2027 general elections.
It, however, wished the people of Osun State a peaceful and credible election, urging political parties, candidates, security agencies, electoral officials and voters to uphold the rule of law and ensure that Saturday’s poll is conducted peacefully and transparently.
