Blessing Bello, Reporting
Osogbo — The All Progressives Congress (APC) has filed an application seeking to withdraw its petition challenging the victory of Governor Ademola Adeleke in the August 15, 2026, Osun State governorship election.
The withdrawal came amid conflicting positions within the party’s legal team over whether the APC had authorised the petition challenging the outcome of the election.
It will be recalled that both the APC and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) challenged the outcome of the August 15, 2026, Osun gubernatorial election.
The APC’s petition, marked EPT/OS/GOV/01/2026, was filed by its governorship candidate, Bola Oyebamiji, and listed Adeleke, the Accord Party and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) as respondents.
Meanwhile, a Notice of Motion to Withdraw Petition dated September 8, 2026, filed by a counsel for the APC, Barrister Oluseyi Oyagbile, before the Osun State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal, indicated the petitioners’ decision to discontinue the case.
The document seeks an order of the tribunal permitting the petitioners to withdraw the election petition.
However, an APC legal team led by Abiodun Layonu, SAN, had earlier disowned the petition, insisting that the party and its candidate had decided not to challenge Adeleke’s victory at the tribunal.
Also, the APC campaign council distanced itself from reports claiming that its governorship candidate, Oyebamiji (AMBO), filed a petition challenging the outcome of the August 15, 2026, governorship election at the Election Petition Tribunal.
A statement made available by the campaign spokesperson said: “We state categorically that neither the All Progressives Congress (APC) nor its governorship candidate, Asiwaju Munirudeen Bola Oyebamiji (AMBO), filed any petition at the tribunal challenging the outcome of the August 15 governorship election.
“The purported claim is therefore completely untrue and should be regarded as nothing more than a rumour being circulated by individuals seeking to mislead members of the public and create unnecessary tension.
“We urge members of the public, supporters of our great party and the media to discountenance the claim and refrain from giving credibility to unverified information designed to cause confusion.
“The APC and Asiwaju Munirudeen Bola Oyebamiji remain committed to lawful and democratic processes and will continue to act responsibly in the interest of peace, stability and the good people of Osun State.
“We urge the public to rely only on official statements from the APC and the Campaign Council on matters concerning the party, its candidate and the outcome of the August 15 governorship election.”
