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