The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has said it did not authorise a petition challenging Governor Ademola Adeleke’s victory in the 15 August governorship election in Osun State.
Jungudo Mohammed, the national publicity secretary of the PDP loyal to the Minister of the FCT, Nyesom Wike, disclosed this at a press briefing on Wednesday at the party’s national secretariat in Abuja.
Mr Mohammed said the party’s national secretariat neither instituted the petition nor directed its legal team to take any legal action challenging Mr Adeleke’s victory before the Osun State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal.
“We are here to tell you that the PDP did not authorise this petition. It is not our case. The party neither instituted, sponsored, approved, nor endorsed the petition challenging the outcome of the 15 August 2026 Osun State Governorship Election.
“Under Article 42 of the PDP Constitution, the authority to institute and conduct legal proceedings on behalf of the Party is vested in the National Legal Adviser, and the National Legal Adviser of the PDP, A.K. Ajibade, SAN, did not authorise or issue any instruction to any individual or lawyer to file this petition on behalf of the PDP,” the party said.
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) declared Mr Adeleke the winner of the election after he secured 511,067 votes to defeat his closest rival, Bola Oyebamiji of the All Progressives Congress (APC), who polled 444,815 votes.
Mr Oyebamiji conceded defeat and subsequently congratulated Mr Adeleke on his victory.
Similarly, the APC legal team, led by Abiodun Layonu, Yomi Aliyu, Adekunle Adegoke and Muritala Abdulrasheed, said the party had decided not to challenge the election result after consultations with Mr Oyebamiji and other party leaders.
Mr Adegoke, who spoke on behalf of the legal team, said the decision was informed partly by the need to de-escalate tensions in the state and allow peace to prevail.
However, the situation changed on Monday when petitions challenging Mr Adeleke’s victory were displayed on the notice board of the Osun State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal in Osogbo.
The petitions were filed in the names of the PDP candidate, Adebayo Adedamola, and the APC candidate, Mr Oyebamiji.
The APC petition, marked EPT/OS/GOV/01/2026, listed Mr Adeleke, the Accord Party and INEC as respondents.
The PDP’s petition, marked EPT/OS/GOV/02/2026, listed Mr Adeleke, the Accord Party and INEC as respondents.
After the petitions became public, the two governorship candidates separately denied authorising them and subsequently withdrew from the proceedings.
Amid the disagreement, Oluseyi Oyagbile, the lawyer who signed and submitted the petition on behalf of the APC candidate, insisted that the party leadership had authorised the process.
The lawyer also claimed that the APC deputy governorship candidate, Kayode Adereti, witnessed the filing of the petition before it was submitted to the tribunal.
However, on Tuesday, The Nation newspaper reported that Mr Oyagbile confirmed in a telephone conversation that he had withdrawn the petition after receiving fresh instructions from his client and APC leaders.
PDP challenges lawyer to produce mandate
The PDP spokesperson challenged the lawyer who filed and submitted the petition on behalf of its candidate to produce the authority or mandate under which he instituted the proceedings.
“We are aware that one Ochai Jacob Otokpa, Esq., is the lawyer purportedly responsible for filing the petition in the name of the Party. We therefore challenge him to produce the authority, instruction, or mandate upon which he relied in assuming the locus to institute proceedings in the name of the Peoples Democratic Party.
“Who instructed him? Who authorised him? And by what authority did he purport to act in the name of the PDP? These are legitimate questions to which the Party and the Nigerian public deserve clear answers,” he said.
Mr Mohammed said the party’s national leadership completely dissociates itself from the petition until those who authorised it come forward.
“The party, therefore, completely disowns and dissociates itself from Election Petition No. EPT/OS/GOV/02/2026. Until such authority is produced, the PDP maintains its unequivocal position that Election Petition No. EPT/OS/GOV/02/2026 was not instituted with the authority or consent of the Peoples Democratic Party and does not represent the position of the Party,” he stated.
The PDP spokesperson also noted that the party’s governorship candidate had denied authorising the petition.
“It is equally instructive to inform the general public that even Mr Adebayo Adedamola, popularly known as “Fryo,” who was purportedly presented as the PDP candidate in the 2026 Osun State Governorship Election, has publicly distanced himself from the purported petition.
‘While speaking on TVC News on 7 September 2026, Mr Adedamola stated that he did not instruct or retain any lawyer to institute a petition challenging the outcome of the election. The question further remains, on whose instructions was the petition filed?”
PDP begins process to withdraw name from petition
Mr Mohammed disclosed that the PDP legal team had begun the process of withdrawing the party’s name from the petition.
“While the Legal Department of the PDP is taking immediate steps to withdraw the party’s name from the purported proceedings formally, we wish to make it abundantly clear that the PDP does not recognise Election Petition No. EPT/OS/GOV/02/2026 as a proceeding instituted by or on behalf of the Party,” he stated.
He called on Governor Adeleke, the leadership of the Accord Party and security agencies to take note of the party’s position.
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“We therefore call on the Osun State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal, INEC, the Accord Party, His Excellency, Governor Ademola Adeleke, security agencies, the media, and the general public to take note of the Party’s position and disregard the purported petition and its contents and any representation or claim that the said petition is an official PDP action.
“We further call on the appropriate authorities to investigate the circumstances surrounding the preparation and filing of the purported petition and to take appropriate action against anyone found to have unlawfully impersonated the Party or used its name, identity, or legal personality without authority.
“The PDP will not allow its name, constitutional authority, or institutional identity to be appropriated by individuals acting without the mandate of the Party,” Mr Mohammed said.
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