Osun Election Tribunal: APC Denies Authorising Petition Against Adeleke
OSOGBO — Fresh controversy has emerged over the legal battle surrounding the August 15 Osun State governorship election after the All Progressives Congress (APC) legal team denied authorising a petition challenging Governor Ademola Adeleke’s victory.
The development followed the display of two election petitions at the Osun State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal in Osogbo on Monday.
One of the petitions, marked EPT/OS/GOV/01/2026, listed APC governorship candidate, Asiwaju Munirudeen Bola Oyebamiji, and the APC as petitioners, with Governor Adeleke, the Accord Party and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) named as respondents.
However, members of the APC legal team have publicly disowned the petition, insisting that neither the party nor its candidate authorised its filing.
A member of the legal team, Barrister Muideen Adeoye, said the lawyers had reached an agreement with the party leadership not to challenge the election result at the tribunal.
According to him, the appearance of a petition in the name of the APC and Oyebamiji was therefore unexpected.
He maintained that the document did not emanate from the recognised APC legal team and urged party members and the public to disregard it.
Another senior member of the legal team, Dr Abiodun Layonu, SAN, also described the purported petition as shocking, saying neither Oyebamiji nor the party authorised its filing.
The lawyers said their decision followed consultations with Oyebamiji and other party leaders after the election.
Adekunle Adegoke, SAN, one of the leaders of the legal team, said the decision not to pursue litigation was taken in the interest of peace and to avoid escalating political tension in the state.
He also disclosed that the legal team had identified grounds that could potentially have been used to challenge the election but decided against pursuing the matter.
The controversy comes after the tribunal secretary, Pefe Belemore, confirmed that petitions challenging the outcome of the election had been received and displayed at the tribunal secretariat.
The second petition, marked EPT/OS/GOV/02/2026, listed Adebayo Olugbenga Adedamola as the petitioner, with Adeleke, INEC and the Accord Party as respondents.
The appearance of the petitions has therefore raised questions over who authorised their filing and whether the documents were validly instituted on behalf of the individuals and parties named as petitioners.
Governor Adeleke, who contested the election on the platform of the Accord Party, was declared winner of the August 15 poll with 511,067 votes, defeating Oyebamiji of the APC, who scored 444,815 votes.
The latest development is expected to generate further clarification from the tribunal and the parties involved as the legal process over the Osun governorship election gets underway.
For now, the key issue is not only whether petitions were placed before the tribunal, but whether those documents were legitimately authorised by the individuals and political parties listed as petitioners.
