The Peoples Democratic Party has called for an investigation into a petition filed at the Osun State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal in its name, insisting that the party neither authorised nor endorsed the suit challenging Governor Ademola Adeleke’s victory.
The PDP said its national leadership was not involved in the petition marked EPT/OS/GOV/02/2026, which listed the party as the petitioner against the Independent National Electoral Commission, the Accord Party and Adeleke.
The party’s National Publicity Secretary, Jungudo Mohammed, said the PDP did not institute, sponsor or approve any legal action challenging the outcome of the August 15, 2026 governorship election.
According to the party, its National Legal Adviser, A.K. Ajibade, SAN, did not authorise or issue any instruction to a lawyer to file the petition on its behalf.
The PDP also challenged the lawyer reportedly behind the petition, Ochai Jacob Otokpa, to explain the authority or mandate under which he commenced the case in the party’s name.
The party said it had begun steps to formally withdraw its name from the proceedings, stressing that the purported petition did not represent its position on the election.
The PDP further called on relevant authorities to investigate the circumstances surrounding the filing and prosecute anyone found to have impersonated the party or its authorised representatives.
The development came amid controversy over separate petitions reportedly filed against Adeleke’s victory. The APC legal team also disowned a petition filed in the name of its party and candidate, Bola Oyebamiji, while Oyebamiji’s counsel subsequently filed a motion seeking to withdraw the APC petition.
Adeleke was declared winner of the August 15 election after securing 511,067 votes, defeating APC candidate Oyebamiji, who polled 444,815 votes.
