Breaking: Adeleke’s Re-election Battle Begins As APC, PDP Petitions Land At Osun Tribunal

The legal battle over Governor Ademola Adeleke’s re-election has officially begun, following the display of separate petitions filed by the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) before the Osun State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal.

The petitions were pasted on the notice board of the tribunal’s secretariat in Osogbo on Monday, formally setting the stage for legal proceedings over the outcome of the August 2026 governorship election.

The development came after the Secretary of the tribunal, Pefe Belemore, confirmed that petitions challenging the election had been received by the tribunal.

Belemore had said the necessary notices would be displayed on the tribunal’s notice board before noon on Monday.

She said, “The necessary notices would be displayed on the tribunal’s notice board before noon on Monday.”

The APC petition, numbered EPT/OS/GOV/01/2026, was filed by the party’s governorship candidate, Munirudeen Bola Oyebamiji.

Oyebamiji named Adeleke, the Accord Party and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) as respondents.

In a separate petition, marked EPT/OS/GOV/02/2026, the PDP’s Adebayo Olugbenga Adedamola is challenging the election outcome, with Adeleke, INEC and the Accord Party listed as respondents.

The petitions seek to overturn the outcome of the governorship election in which Adeleke was declared winner by INEC.

The governor, who contested on the platform of the Accord Party, polled 511,067 votes to defeat Oyebamiji of the APC, who scored 444,815 votes.

The election recorded 985,079 valid votes, while 20,721 ballots were rejected, according to the figures declared by the electoral commission.

The petitions were reportedly filed within the statutory period allowed for challenging an election result.

Sources close to the tribunal said the documents were subjected to the required administrative procedures before being displayed publicly.

The display of the petitions is expected to trigger the next phase of the electoral litigation, including the formal service of court processes on the respondents and subsequent pre-hearing proceedings.

The development has therefore opened a new contest over the August election, with the APC and PDP now seeking judicial intervention in the outcome that returned Adeleke to office for another term.

The coming proceedings are expected to determine whether the petitioners can establish sufficient grounds to warrant the nullification or alteration of the declared result.