APC withdraws Osun petition challenging Adeleke’s victory

The Osun State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has withdrawn a petition seeking to challenge the re-election of Governor Ademola Adeleke, less than 24 hours after senior members of the party’s legal team rejected the suit.

The petition, which was filed at the Osun State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal in Osogbo, was withdrawn on Tuesday by Oluseyi Oyagbile, the lawyer who lodged it.

Oyagbile told The Nation that he acted after receiving fresh instructions from APC leaders and his client.

“My client and leaders of APC reached out to me this morning to withdraw the petition I filed on their behalf. I have withdrawn the petition,” he said.

The lawyer added that he obtained the withdrawal directive in writing through WhatsApp to avoid further disagreement over who authorised the legal action.

Kola Olabisi, the Osun APC spokesperson, also confirmed that the petition had been withdrawn, although he clarified that he was not part of the party’s legal team.

The suit, identified as EPT/OS/GOV/01/2026, had been displayed on the tribunal’s notice board on Monday. It named APC governorship candidate Bola Oyebamiji and the party as petitioners, with Adeleke, Accord and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) listed as respondents.

The petition’s brief existence exposed disagreements within the APC over whether the legal challenge had been sanctioned by the party and its candidate.

On Monday, Adekunle Adegoke, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria and member of the APC’s legal team, said the lawyers had neither authorised nor endorsed any petition against Adeleke’s victory.

According to Adegoke, the legal team, comprising Abiodun Layoonu, Yomi Aliyu, himself and Muritala Abdulrasheed, all Senior Advocates of Nigeria, had advised Oyebamiji against challenging the election at the tribunal.

He said the advice was given shortly after the August 15 election following the team’s assessment of the circumstances surrounding the poll.

“The best in this circumstance is for us not to go to the tribunal,” Adegoke said the lawyers had advised.

He further disowned the petition displayed at the tribunal, describing it as a document filed by people presenting themselves as representatives of the APC legal team without authorisation.

“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 dispute over the APC petition came as another opposition candidate also rejected a separate legal challenge purportedly filed in his name.

Adebayo Adedamola, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate in the August 15 governorship election, denied authorising a petition challenging Adeleke’s victory.

Adeleke won the election with 511,067 votes, securing another term as governor of Osun State.