The All Progressives Congress (APC) in Osun State has withdrawn its petition challenging the re-election of Governor Ademola Adeleke, barely a day after the party’s legal team disowned the suit.
Oluseyi Oyagbile, the counsel who filed the petition, confirmed on Tuesday that he had withdrawn the case after receiving fresh instructions from his client and APC leaders.
“My client and leaders of APC reached out to me this morning to withdraw the petition I filed on their behalf. I have withdrawn the petition,” Oyagbile said.
He added that he requested written confirmation of the instruction through WhatsApp before withdrawing the suit to prevent any further controversy over who authorised the action.
Kola Olabisi, spokesperson for the Osun APC, also confirmed the withdrawal, although he clarified that he was not a member of the party’s legal team.
The petition, marked EPT/OS/GOV/01/2026, was displayed on the notice board of the Osun State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal in Osogbo on Monday.
It listed APC governorship candidate Bola Oyebamiji and the party as petitioners, while Adeleke, the Accord Party and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) were named as respondents.
The withdrawal followed conflicting positions within the APC over the authorisation of the petition.
Adekunle Adegoke, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) and member of the APC legal team, had earlier said the lawyers did not authorise any petition challenging Adeleke’s victory.
Adegoke said the legal team, comprising Abiodun Layoonu, Yomi Aliyu, himself and Muritala Abdulrasheed, had advised Oyebamiji against taking the election result to the tribunal after the August 15 governorship election.
He said the legal team had concluded that the best course of action was not to challenge the election outcome at the tribunal.
Adegoke also disowned the petition displayed at the tribunal, saying it was not authorised by the APC or its candidate.
The controversy over the APC petition came alongside a separate denial by Adebayo Adedamola, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governorship candidate in the August 15 election, who also disowned a petition reportedly filed in his name against Adeleke.
Adeleke was declared winner of the August 15 governorship election after securing 511,067 votes.
The withdrawal effectively ends the APC’s petition challenging Adeleke’s re-election, subject to the tribunal’s formal handling of the withdrawal.
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