Nigeria’s PDP distances itself from petition against Adeleke’s victory
Nigeria’s Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) said it did not authorize the filing of an election petition challenging the victory of Osun State Governor Ademola Adeleke in the August 15, 2026 election. The party’s National Publicity Secretary, Jungudo Mohammed, said the PDP national secretariat did not initiate the proceedings and did not instruct a legal team to challenge the result at the Osun State Election Petition Tribunal.
As Premium Times Nigeria reports, Nigeria’s Independent National Electoral Commission declared Adeleke the winner with 511,067 votes. His closest rival, Bola Oyebamiji, the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), received 444,815 votes, conceded defeat and congratulated Adeleke.
Petitions on the notice board
On Monday, petitions challenging Adeleke’s victory were posted on the tribunal’s notice board in the city of Osogbo. They were filed on behalf of PDP candidate Adewayo Adedamola and APC candidate Oyebamiji.
The APC-linked petition was numbered EPT/OS/GOV/01/2026, while the petition disowned by the PDP was numbered EPT/OS/GOV/02/2026. Both documents listed Adeleke, the Accord party and the electoral commission as respondents. According to the publication, both candidates separately denied authorizing the filing of the documents and withdrew from the proceedings.
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PDP’s position
Mohammed said that under Article 42 of the PDP constitution, the right to initiate and conduct court cases on behalf of the party belongs to the National Legal Adviser. According to him, adviser A. K. Ajibade did not instruct a lawyer or any other person to file the petition.
The PDP also demanded that lawyer Ochaya Jacob Otokpi, who was named as responsible for filing the document on behalf of the party, provide proof of authority or instructions. Mohammed added that Adedamola had publicly stated that he was not involved in the petition and said he had not hired a lawyer to challenge the election results.
According to the PDP representative, the party’s legal department has begun the procedure for officially removing its name from the proceedings. The party called on the competent authorities to investigate the circumstances of the petition’s preparation and filing and to take action if its name was used without permission.
