APC Party Denies Taking Court Action Against Governor Adeleke, Accord Over Osun Election
APC Party Denies Taking Court Action Against Governor Adeleke, Accord Over Osun Election
Adegoke said the APC legal team had met with Oyebamiji and other party leaders shortly after the election results were announced to discuss the party’s next line of action.
The legal team of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Osun State has denied authorising any legal challenge against the victory of Governor Ademola Adeleke in the August 15, 2026 governorship election.
The denial came after a notice of petition reportedly filed before the Osun State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal indicated that the APC candidate in the election, Asiwaju Munirudeen Bola Oyebamiji, and the APC were challenging the outcome of the poll.
Speaking with PUNCH on Monday, one of the leaders of the APC legal team, Adekunle Adegoke (SAN), said neither Oyebamiji nor the party authorised the filing of the petition.
Adegoke said the APC legal team had met with Oyebamiji and other party leaders shortly after the election results were announced to discuss the party’s next line of action.
According to him, after reviewing the circumstances surrounding the election, the legal team advised the APC candidate and the party not to approach the tribunal.
He said the decision was informed by the need to de-escalate political tension in Osun State and allow peace to prevail, despite the legal team identifying what it considered grounds that could have been used to challenge the election.
“Right from the second day of the election, at the level of the legal team being led by about 4 Senior Advocates of Nigeria, Dr Biodun Layoonu (SAN), Dr Yomi Aliyu (SAN), myself, Kunle Adegoke (SAN) and Dr Muritala Abdulrasheed (SAN). We also have other legal luminaries, Professors of law in the legal team, Prof Mojeed Alabi and many others, and we advised our client that the best in this circumstance is for us not to go to the tribunal.
“The legal team has been in existence for more than seven years now. When we are going into an election, and the result of the election is being announced, we know where there are loopholes, we know what we can challenge. At this particular point in time, we want to prove to the minds of the people that at the level of the APC, we are not termagants; we are not just litigious people who are just interested in causing brouhaha in the populace. We don’t have anything personal against Nurudeen Adeleke the governor, or any other person in another party, whether PDP or Accord.
“We are principled, and when we want to challenge or fight for something, we fight on the basis of principle. That is one thing we want to make clear to the people. And when we decided that we are not going to the Tribunal, we needed to let our client understand why we had taken that decision. We took our client through a gamut of our findings. 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.
“Right from the second day, 16th of August, when the result of the election was announced, that is why we allowed time to play out a little before our client came out and congratulated the Governor Nurudeen Ademola Adeleke,” Adegoke said.
The senior lawyer further questioned how Oyebamiji could have authorised a petition against Adeleke after publicly congratulating the governor.
He said Oyebamiji congratulated Adeleke voluntarily and without pressure, adding that the filing of a petition in his name would therefore be inconsistent with the decision already taken by the candidate and the party’s legal team.
He added, “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? The petition is just a piece of paper without good substance. No good petition will come from a seasoned election petition lawyer that will contain such a penchant for context. It is never done. 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.”
Adegoke maintained that the legal team’s decision not to challenge the election result did not mean it considered the poll entirely free of irregularities.
He said the team had identified “valid grounds” upon which the election could have been challenged but deliberately chose not to pursue litigation in the interest of peace.
His comments came after notices of two petitions were reportedly displayed at the premises of the Osun State High Court in Osogbo, where the election petition tribunal is located.
The notices, signed by the Tribunal Secretary, Belemo Diete-Spiff, reportedly listed the APC governorship candidate, Oyebamiji, and the APC as petitioners in a case numbered EPT/Os/Gov/01/2026.
The respondents listed in that petition were Governor Ademola Adeleke, the Accord Party and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
A second petition, numbered EPT/Os/Gov/02/2026, reportedly listed the Peoples Democratic Party as the petitioner, with INEC, the Accord Party and Adeleke as respondents.
However, the APC legal team has now disowned the first petition, insisting that neither the party nor its candidate authorised the action.
The development has created a contradiction between the tribunal notice reportedly bearing the names of the APC and Oyebamiji and the position of the party’s legal team, which says no such petition was authorised.
The August 15 governorship election was contested by 15 political parties, although the PDP did not field a candidate in the poll.
Adeleke emerged victorious in the election, defeating the APC candidate, Oyebamiji, while the Accord Party also contested the election.
Following the declaration of the results, Oyebamiji congratulated Adeleke, with the APC legal team saying the decision was consistent with its recommendation that the party should not challenge the election at the tribunal.
Adegoke said the APC legal team would continue to stand by its decision, stressing that the party was not interested in prolonged litigation or actions capable of further raising political tension in Osun State.
The legal team’s position therefore appears to contradict the earlier tribunal notice which named the APC and its candidate as petitioners challenging Adeleke’s victory.
