The All Progressives Congress, APC, and its candidate in the August 15 Osun State governorship election, Bola Oyebamiji, have taken steps to withdraw their petition challenging the victory of Governor Ademola Adeleke.
Counsel to the APC and Oyebamiji, Seyi Oyagbile, on Tuesday filed a motion seeking the withdrawal of the case before the Osun State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal.
The application, dated September 8, 2026, was submitted at the tribunal’s office located within the premises of the Osun State High Court in Osogbo.
The development comes days after notices of two election petitions were displayed on the tribunal’s notice board on Monday.
According to the notices signed by the Tribunal Secretary, Belemo Diete-Spiff, the first case, marked EPT/Os/Gov/01/2026, was filed in the names of Oyebamiji and the APC.
Governor Adeleke, the Accord and the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, were listed as respondents in the matter.
A separate petition, numbered EPT/Os/Gov/02/2026, listed the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, as petitioner, with INEC, the Accord and Governor Adeleke named as respondents.
However, documents stamped by the tribunal secretary showed that Oyagbile had initiated moves to discontinue the petition brought on behalf of Oyebamiji and the APC.
The application, titled, “Notice of Motion to Withdraw Petition”, sought an order of the tribunal granting the petitioners permission to withdraw the case.
The only reason stated in the September 8, 2026 process was “Decision of Petitioner”.
Oyagbile confirmed the development, saying the necessary notice had been formally filed before the tribunal.
“It is true. I have filed a notice to withdraw the petition,” the lawyer said.
The decision to withdraw the case follows an earlier position taken by members of the APC legal team in Osun State, who had distanced themselves from the petition challenging Adeleke’s electoral victory.
A leader of the legal team, Adekunle Adegoke, said the lawyers had held consultations with Oyebamiji and other party leaders after the election to consider the possibility of approaching the tribunal.
According to Adegoke, “The consultations resulted in a decision not to challenge the election outcome at the tribunal. There was a need to de-escalate tension and allow peace to prevail in the state.”
Meanwhile, the PDP has called on the Nigerian Bar Association, NBA, and the Legal Practitioners Disciplinary Committee, LPDC, to investigate a separate petition allegedly filed in the party’s name.
The party maintained that it did not authorise any lawyer to institute a case challenging the outcome of the governorship election.
The PDP’s National Treasurer and an Osun chieftain, Diran Odeyemi, said the party, under the leadership of National Chairman Abdulrahman Mohammed and National Secretary Samuel Anyanwu, did not engage any legal practitioner to file such a petition.
Odeyemi alleged that those responsible for the purported suit were impostors and called for an investigation by the NBA and LPDC.
“We must not allow impostors to mess up the Nigerian legal system,” he said.
