The ongoing legal battle over the 2026 Osun State governorship election took a dramatic turn on Monday as the All Progressives Congress (APC) legal team and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governorship candidate, Adebayo Adedamola, disowned petitions purportedly challenging Governor Ademola Adeleke’s victory.
The controversy erupted after two separate petitions, marked EPT/OS/GOV/01/2026 and EPT/OS/GOV/02/2026, were displayed on the notice board of the Osun State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal in Osogbo.
The documents listed Bola Oyebamiji/APC and Adebayo Adedamola as petitioners against Adeleke, the Accord Party and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
However, both purported petitioners swiftly denied authorising or filing the petitions, throwing the tribunal proceedings into confusion.
The APC legal team in Osun said it had neither filed nor authorised the petition attributed to Oyebamiji and the party, effectively distancing itself from the document challenging Adeleke’s election.
Adedamola also issued a similar denial, insisting that he did not institute the petition bearing his name against the governor.
The denials came despite confirmation from the tribunal secretary, Pefe Belemore, that the petitions had been filed and subsequently displayed on the tribunal’s notice board.
The conflicting positions have raised serious questions over the authenticity, origin and legal standing of the disputed documents.
The development has injected a fresh layer of uncertainty into the post-election dispute, with the tribunal yet to publicly clarify who submitted the contested petitions or under what authority they were filed.
The controversy is particularly significant given the political sensitivity surrounding the Osun governorship election, with Adeleke declared winner after defeating the APC candidate, Oyebamiji.
With both the APC legal team and the PDP candidate distancing themselves from the petitions, attention is now focused on the tribunal to unravel the circumstances surrounding the documents and determine whether they form any legitimate part of the ongoing electoral litigation.
The tribunal is expected to clarify the matter as proceedings over the disputed Osun governorship election gather momentum.
