| 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.
