The controversy surrounding the petition challenging the re-election of Osun State Governor, Ademola Adeleke, has deepened, with the established legal team of the All Progressives Congress in the state insisting that neither the party nor its governorship candidate, Asiwaju Munirudeen Bola Oyebamiji, authorised the case presently before the Osun State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal.
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One of the leaders of the APC legal team, Adekunle Adegoke, SAN, said the decision not to challenge the outcome of the August 15 governorship election was deliberately taken following consultations between the lawyers, Oyebamiji and other party leaders shortly after the results were announced.
His position comes despite a petition displayed on the tribunal’s notice board in Osogbo naming Oyebamiji and the APC as petitioners against Adeleke, the Accord Party and the Independent National Electoral Commission.
The petition, marked EPT/Os/Gov/01/2026, has therefore generated a dispute not over whether a document was filed at the tribunal, but over who authorised its filing and whether it legitimately represents the position of Oyebamiji and the APC.
Adegoke said the APC legal team, comprising several Senior Advocates of Nigeria and professors of law, reviewed the outcome of the election from August 16 and advised the candidate against proceeding to the tribunal.
He identified members of the team to include Dr Biodun Layonu, SAN; Dr Yomi Aliyu, SAN; himself; Dr Muritala Abdulrasheed, SAN; and Prof. Mojeed Alabi, among others.
According to him, although the team identified matters arising from the election that could potentially have formed grounds for a challenge, the collective decision was to avoid further political tension and allow peace to prevail in Osun State.
“We advised our client that the best in this circumstance is for us not to go to the tribunal,” Adegoke said.
He explained that the legal team, which he said had existed for more than seven years, was experienced in examining electoral results and identifying possible grounds for litigation, but decided that approaching the tribunal was not necessary in the circumstances.
“We are principled, and when we want to challenge or fight for something, we fight on the basis of principle,” he said.
“It’s not like maybe the election was free; it doesn’t mean there were no malpractices. There are valid grounds to challenge the result of the election, and we decided to let the populace rest.
“Let there be some peace and our client said yes; if it’s going to take us another four years to get things together for the people of Osun, let us allow it. And that is the decision we took.”
Adegoke said the position was reached from August 16, a day after the election, and explained that the decision eventually informed Oyebamiji’s public congratulatory message to Adeleke.
He questioned why Oyebamiji, having voluntarily congratulated the governor, would subsequently authorise a petition behind the scenes.
“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.
Adegoke went further to dismiss the petition as lacking the quality he would expect from seasoned election petition lawyers.
“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.
The latest position adds another layer to an already developing dispute over the petition.
Counsel involved in filing the petition, Oluseyi Oyagbile, had maintained that the action was properly initiated, arguing that APC deputy governorship candidate Kayode Adereti personally signed the petition and had the legal standing to instruct counsel because he contested the election on a joint ticket with Oyebamiji.
Oyagbile had argued that Adereti personally appeared to sign the petition and was entitled to engage counsel of his choice.
That claim now stands against the position of Adegoke and other members of the established APC legal team, who insist that neither Oyebamiji nor the party authorised the filing.
The competing accounts have shifted attention to the competence and authorisation of the petition and could raise preliminary questions before the tribunal over who had authority to commence the proceedings in the names of the listed petitioners.
Meanwhile, a second petition, marked EPT/Os/Gov/02/2026, was also displayed at the tribunal.
In that case, the Peoples Democratic Party is listed as petitioner, while INEC, the Accord Party and Adeleke are named as respondents.
Although 15 political parties fielded candidates in the August 15 election, the PDP did not present a candidate.
The notices of both petitions were signed by the Tribunal Secretary, Belemo Diete-Spiff, and displayed at the tribunal situated within the premises of the Osun State High Court in Osogbo.
The existence of the APC petition is therefore not in dispute. What has become contentious is whether the people whose names appear as petitioners authorised it, with the established APC legal team denying such approval while the counsel who filed the case maintains that the deputy governorship candidate personally instructed and signed the action.
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