The aftermath of the August 15, 2026 Osun State governorship election has taken a fresh turn, following the denial by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governorship candidate and the All Progressives Congress (APC) legal team that they filed petitions challenging the victory of Governor Ademola Adeleke.


The development followed the appearance of two petitions before the Osun State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal sitting in Osogbo, reportedly challenging the outcome of the election.


One of the petitions, marked EPT/OS/GOV/01/2026, reportedly listed the APC governorship candidate, Asiwaju Munirudeen Bola Oyebamiji, and the APC as petitioners, while Governor Adeleke, the Accord Party and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) were listed as respondents.


A second petition, marked EPT/OS/GOV/02/2026, reportedly listed the PDP as the petitioner against INEC, the Accord Party and Governor Adeleke.


However, the APC legal team has disowned the petition attributed to the party and its candidate.


A senior member of the APC legal team, Adekunle Adegoke, SAN, said the party’s lawyers had advised Oyebamiji and the party leadership against challenging the election result at the tribunal.


According to him, the decision followed consultations after the election and was intended to prevent further political tension and promote peace in the state.


Adegoke also pointed to Oyebamiji’s public decision to congratulate Adeleke after the election, questioning why the APC candidate would subsequently authorise a petition challenging the same result.


He therefore described the petition attributed to Oyebamiji and the APC as unauthorised, stressing that it did not emanate from the recognised legal team of the party.


In a separate development, the PDP governorship candidate, Adebayo Adedamola, also denied filing or authorising any petition against Adeleke’s victory.


Adedamola reportedly said he had endorsed Adeleke ahead of the election and had no reason to subsequently challenge the governor’s victory at the tribunal.


He further stated that neither he nor his counsel had filed any petition and that he was unaware of any decision by the PDP to challenge the election outcome.


The conflicting claims have raised questions over the ownership and authorisation of the petitions reportedly displayed before the tribunal in Osogbo.


Governor Adeleke was declared winner of the August 15 governorship election after polling 511,067 votes, while the APC candidate, Oyebamiji, secured 444,815 votes.


The latest development is expected to generate further political and legal interest in Osun as attention shifts to the tribunal and the question of who authorised the petitions reportedly filed over the election.