Osun poll: Confusion as APC denies filing petition against Adeleke

Governor Adeleke of Osun State. – Tribunal displays APC, PDP petitions – Accord: We are not perturbed, it is their right By Shina Abubakar, Osogbo OSOGBO — Confusion has trailed the notice of election petitions displayed at the Election Petition Tribunal Secretariat in Osogbo on Monday, following the denial by the All Progressives Congress (APC) that it filed any petition challenging Governor Ademola Adeleke's re-election. The Osun State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal had displayed two petitions purportedly filed by the APC and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), challenging the outcome of the August 15 governorship election in the state. The petitions, dated September 5, 2026, were pasted on the tribunal's notice board, formally commencing the process for hearing disputes arising from the election. The development followed confirmation by the Secretary of the tribunal, Pefe Belemore, that petitions challenging the election outcome had been filed. When Vanguard visited the tribunal secretariat on Monday, Belemore was in the courtroom alongside other officials as preparations were underway for the commencement of proceedings. The petition with suit number EPT/OS/GOV/01/2026 was purportedly filed by APC governorship candidate, Asiwaju Munirudeen Bola Oyebamiji, against Adeleke, the Accord Party and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC). The second petition, EPT/OS/GOV/02/2026, was filed by Adebayo Olugbenga Adedamola against Adeleke, INEC and the Accord Party. Officials of the Accord Party and members of its legal team were also sighted at the tribunal. However, a member of the APC legal team, Barrister Muideen Adeoye, said the party did not file any petition before the tribunal. Adeoye said whoever filed the petition purportedly on behalf of the APC and its governorship candidate did so without the approval of the party leadership or the candidate. 'I am telling you authoritatively that we did not file any petition, either for the candidate or the party. The said petition may have emanated from some persons within the party, but it is without the permission of the leadership. 'As I am speaking with you, the legal team, in conjunction with the party hierarchy, agreed not to file any petition and we did not file any. 'I am also aware that notice of petition was pasted at the tribunal today (Monday). That is strange, and I repeat, we did not file the said petition,' he said. In a separate statement issued on social media by another senior member of the APC legal team, Dr Abiodun Layonu, SAN, the purported petition was described as shocking. Layonu said neither Oyebamiji nor the APC authorised the filing of the petition, adding that the legal team was not aware of it. The statement, titled, 'Re: APC Challenge Gubernatorial Election at Tribunal,' 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.' Meanwhile, the Osun State chairman of the Accord Party, Victor Akande, said the party was not perturbed by the development, describing the filing of petitions as the right of the APC and PDP. Akande said approaching the tribunal was preferable to resorting to actions capable of disrupting the peace. 'It is better to approach the tribunal than taking laws into their hands by disrupting peace and other (things). Although, in my view, such steps are not good for our democracy. 'I believe our election should end at the poll; the court should not be deciding the winners of elections. 'However, it is within their right and I respect that. We are sure that our party and the candidate won the election convincingly and if they have doubt, it will be cleared at the tribunal,' he said.