The legal team representing the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Osun State has disowned a petition purportedly filed by the party to challenge Governor Ademola Adeleke’s victory in the August 15 governorship election.
Adekunle Adegoke, a senior member of the APC legal team, said neither the party nor its governorship candidate, Bola Oyebamiji, authorised the filing of any petition before the Osun State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal.
Speaking on Monday, Adegoke said the legal team had advised Oyebamiji against challenging the election result after reviewing the circumstances surrounding the poll.
According to him, the lawyers met with the APC candidate and other party leaders shortly after the election to assess the available options and determine the best course of action.
He said the decision not to approach the tribunal was deliberate and aimed at reducing political tension and promoting peace in the state.
“Right from the second day after the election, the legal team, led by about four Senior Advocates of Nigeria, advised our client that, in the circumstances, the best course of action was not to go to the tribunal,” Adegoke said.
He noted that the legal team had handled election-related cases for several years and was familiar with the grounds upon which election results could be challenged.
Adegoke, however, clarified that the decision not to challenge the election did not mean the poll was completely free of irregularities.
“It is not that the election was entirely free or that there were no malpractices. There may have been valid grounds to challenge the result, but we decided to allow the populace to rest,” he said.
The lawyer also pointed to Oyebamiji’s decision to congratulate Adeleke after the election, saying it would be inconsistent for the APC candidate to subsequently authorise another person to file a petition challenging the governor’s victory.
“Our client willingly, without pressure or duress, congratulated Governor Adeleke. Do you now think it would be legitimate, or honourable, for Asiwaju Munirudeen Bola Oyebamiji to turn around and authorise the filing of a petition?” he asked.
Adegoke further described the petition displayed before the tribunal as unauthorised, insisting that neither the APC nor Oyebamiji instructed the legal team to institute the case.
“I want it 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 authorised by the APC as a party or by its candidate,” he said.
Another APC chieftain, Adebayo Adedamola, also distanced himself from the legal action, saying he had no involvement in any petition challenging Adeleke’s victory.
“I am not involved in any petition before the Election Petition Tribunal. I already endorsed Governor Ademola Adeleke as our candidate. So, there is no cause for us to now go and file any petition against the governor,” Adedamola said.
The controversy emerged after two petitions were displayed at the Election Petition Tribunal in Osogbo on Monday.
One of the petitions, identified as EPT/Os/Gov/01/2026, listed Oyebamiji and the APC as petitioners, while the second, EPT/Os/Gov/02/2026, was filed in the name of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
The development came despite earlier reports that no petition had been received before the expiration of the constitutional 21-day period for filing election petitions on Saturday.
Comments