The All Progressives Congress (APC) legal team in Osun State and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governorship candidate, Adebayo Adedamola, have disowned separate petitions purportedly challenging the victory of Governor Ademola Adeleke in the August 15 governorship election.
The development followed the display of two petitions on Monday, September 7, at the Osun State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal in Osogbo.
The first petition, marked EPT/OS/GOV/01/2026, lists APC governorship candidate Bola Oyebamiji and the APC as petitioners, with Adeleke, the Accord Party and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) named as respondents.
The second petition, marked EPT/OS/GOV/02/2026, lists PDP candidate Adebayo Adedamola as the petitioner, while Adeleke, Accord and INEC are named as respondents. Tribunal Secretary Pefe Belemore confirmed that petitions challenging the election outcome had been filed.
However, the APC legal team said it did not authorise any petition against Adeleke’s victory.
Adekunle Adegoke, SAN, one of the leaders of the APC legal team, said the lawyers had advised Oyebamiji and other party leaders not to approach the tribunal after the election, despite being aware of grounds they could potentially challenge.
According to Adegoke, the decision was taken in the interest of peace and to avoid further tension in the state. He said the legal team met with Oyebamiji after the election and concluded that pursuing litigation would not be in the best interest of Osun State.
Adegoke also pointed to Oyebamiji’s decision to congratulate Adeleke after the election, saying the APC candidate had accepted the outcome voluntarily and without pressure. He therefore questioned how Oyebamiji could subsequently have authorised a petition against the governor.
The APC lawyer further disowned the petition displayed at the tribunal, saying it was not authorised by either the party or its governorship candidate.
Similarly, Adedamola denied filing or authorising the second petition.
Speaking on TVC, the PDP candidate said neither he nor his lawyer had filed a case challenging Adeleke’s victory, adding that he was unaware of any decision by PDP leaders to contest the election result.
Adedamola said he had publicly supported Adeleke before the election and even voted for the governor, questioning why he would subsequently file a petition against him.
He recalled that the PDP had held a press conference on August 13 to declare support for Adeleke ahead of the election.
Adeleke, who contested the election on the platform of the Accord Party, was declared winner after securing 511,067 votes.
The emergence of the two petitions despite the denials by the individuals and legal teams named in them has consequently raised questions over who authorised or filed the cases before the tribunal.
