The legal team of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Osun State has denied authorising the petition challenging Governor Ademola Adeleke’s victory in the August 15 governorship election.
One of the leaders of the legal team, Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), Adekunle Adegoke, said neither the APC nor its governorship candidate, Asiwaju Munirudeen Bola Oyebamiji, authorised the petition reportedly filed at the Osun State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal.
Adegoke, who disclosed this on Monday, said the legal team had, after reviewing the election and its outcome, advised Oyebamiji against challenging the result at the tribunal.
He said the decision followed consultations with the candidate and other party leaders and was motivated largely by the need to de-escalate political tension and preserve peace in the state.
According to Adegoke, the legal team, which includes several SANs, law professors and other legal practitioners, had identified grounds upon which the election result could have been challenged.
He, however, said the team deliberately chose not to pursue litigation, stressing that the decision did not mean the election was entirely free of irregularities.
“There are valid grounds to challenge the result of the election, and we decided to let the populace rest. Let there be some peace,” Adegoke said.
He explained that the legal team met with Oyebamiji shortly after the result was announced on August 16 and took him through its findings before reaching a decision not to proceed to the tribunal.
Adegoke added that Oyebamiji subsequently congratulated Adeleke, arguing that it would therefore be inconsistent for the APC candidate to later authorise a petition challenging the governor’s victory.
“Our client, having willingly, without pressure, without duress, congratulated Governor Adeleke, do you now think it will be legitimate as a man of honour for Asiwaju Munirudeen Bola Oyebamiji to go behind and authorise the filing of a petition?” he asked.
The senior lawyer consequently disowned the petition displayed at the tribunal, describing those responsible for filing it as individuals who were not acting with the authorisation of the APC legal team.
“I want 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 APC as a party or its candidate,” he said.
However, notices of two petitions challenging the outcome of the August 15 election were displayed on Monday at the premises of the Osun State High Court in Osogbo, where the election petition tribunal is sitting.
The first petition, numbered EPT/Os/Gov/01/2026, lists Oyebamiji and the APC as petitioners, while Adeleke, the Accord Party and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) are named as respondents.
The second petition, numbered EPT/Os/Gov/02/2026, lists the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) as the petitioner, with INEC, the Accord Party and Adeleke as respondents.
The notices were signed by the Tribunal Secretary, Belemo Diete-Spiff.
The development has created a fresh post-election controversy, with the APC legal team insisting that the petition bearing the names of the party and its candidate was not authorised by them.
