Controversy Trails Alleged APC, PDP Legal Challenges To Adeleke’s Victory

| Osun APC legal team denies filing petition, PDP factions differ over suit
| Adeleke speaks on the matter today, Oyebamiji silent

Controversy has trailed an alleged petition filed by the All Progressives Congress (APC) and a faction of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) at the Osun State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal challenging the victory of Governor Ademola Adeleke in the August 15 governorship election.

The two petitions, reportedly filed against the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Adeleke and other parties, were displayed on the notice board of the tribunal, located on the premises of the Osun State High Court in Okefia, Osogbo.

The APC petition, marked EPT/OS/GOV/01/2026, was reportedly filed by its candidate, Asiwaju Munirudeen Bola Oyebamiji, against Adeleke, the Accord Party and INEC.

The second petition, marked EPT/OS/GOV/02/2026, was reportedly filed by Adebayo Olugbenga Adedamola, a governorship aspirant of a PDP faction, against Adeleke, INEC and the Accord Party.

However, the APC legal team has disowned the purported petition, saying neither the party nor its candidate authorised its filing.

In a statement signed by the head of the party’s legal team, Dr Abiodun Layonu, SAN, the APC described the document as a purported election petition that did not emanate from its legal team.

The statement read in part: “The attention of the All Progressives Congress (APC) legal team has been drawn to a bundle of papers purportedly referred to as Election Petition purportedly filed on behalf of Bola Oyebamiji and APC purportedly challenging the victory of the incumbent Governor, Nurudeen Jackson Ademola Adeleke as the duly elected Governor of Osun State.

“Our clients and the entire legal team were shocked to read the purported petition as neither the candidate nor the party authorised the filing of same.

“We hereby denounce in absolute terms the purported Petition filed in the name of APC and its gubernatorial candidate.

“We urge our members and the general public to discountenance the purported Petition as same did not emanate from the legal team.”

Similarly, the Sunday Bisi-led faction of the PDP in Osun State dissociated itself from the petition, saying it had never considered filing a petition against what it described as a free, fair and credible election.

Bisi had accompanied Governor Adeleke to the Presidential Villa in Abuja during the governor’s thank-you visit to President Bola Tinubu.

The petitioner in the second case, Adebayo Olugbenga Adedamola, was an aspirant on the platform of a PDP faction but did not participate in the August 15 governorship election after he was disqualified by INEC.

Following his disqualification, he declared support for the APC candidate, Oyebamiji, shortly before the election.

INEC declared Adeleke the winner of the election on August 16, with 511,067 votes, ahead of Oyebamiji, who polled 444,815 votes.

The display of the petitions is expected to pave the way for the service of court processes on the parties and subsequent proceedings before the tribunal.

Governor Adeleke had earlier declined to comment on reports that no petition had been filed against his victory.

His  spokesperson, Mallam Olawale Rasheed, told LEADERSHIP that the governor would respond once the authenticity of any petition was established.

With the petitions now displayed, Rasheed said Adeleke would make his position known today.

Meanwhile, the chairman of the Accord Party in Osun State, Pastor Victor Akande, said his party had not been served with any petition challenging the election of Adeleke.

Speaking with LEADERSHIP by telephone, Akande said he had only seen the reported petition online but acknowledged the right of aggrieved parties to seek legal redress.

“I have only seen the reported petition on the internet; we have not been served. However, the petitioners have the right to approach the tribunal when aggrieved.

“They have not done anything wrong with that approach, more so that they did not resort to violence after they had lost the election, which I commended them for.

“However, remember that President Bola Tinubu and the candidate of APC in the election, my brother, Asiwaju Munirudeen Bola Oyebamiji, had both congratulated Governor Ademola Adeleke on his victory.

“But I want to assure you that it is a fruitless effort on their part because my party won the election convincingly and the result was widely acclaimed as free, fair and credible. So, we have no fear.”

Efforts to obtain reactions from the APC spokesperson and Director of Media and Information, Mogaji Kola Olabisi, were unsuccessful as he neither answered his calls nor responded to messages sent to him.

Similarly, the Adeleke Campaign Media Director, Mr Pelumi Olajengbesi, did not respond to calls or messages, while the state Commissioner for Information, Hon. Kolapo Alimi, could not be reached for comment.

The development has generated divergent reactions among residents and political stakeholders in the state.

An APC stalwart in Obokun Local Government Area, Mr Omoniyi Oluyide, said the party was confident of victory at the tribunal.

He said the APC leadership must have identified alleged flaws in the electoral process before deciding to pursue the matter in court.

However, a political analyst, Kola Igbamidun, told LEADERSHIP in Osogbo that the petition could be aimed at keeping the APC politically relevant in the state ahead of the 2027 elections.

According to him, the party might be seeking to reassure its members and supporters that the election outcome was not the end of the road.

A community leader in Agunbelewo, Osogbo, Bola Oyekanle, said there was nothing wrong with aggrieved parties seeking judicial review of an electoral process.

He said the tribunal would examine the issues raised by the petitioners alongside the responses of INEC and the declared winner.

However, a businessman, Alhaji Rasheed Omotunde, described the petition as a waste of time, citing what he called the widely acclaimed performance of INEC during the election.

He also questioned the decision to pursue legal action after Oyebamiji had congratulated Adeleke, saying the APC candidate would have earned public commendation by accepting the result in good faith.

Following the election, the Osun APC had announced that it was studying the results from all 332 wards in the state to determine its next line of action.

In a statement issued on August 16 and signed by Olabisi, the party’s director of Media and Information, the APC said an election was not a one-day event but a process that could extend from voter registration to the courtroom.

Oyebamiji subsequently, in a statement posted on X, said he had accepted the outcome of the election and congratulated Adeleke on his victory.

His concession came about two weeks after Adeleke was declared the winner.

INEC later presented Adeleke and his deputy with their certificates of return on August 19 in Osogbo.

With the conflicting positions of the APC legal team and the PDP faction over the purported petitions, attention is now focused on the tribunal and whether the documents displayed on its notice board will proceed to formal litigation.