PDP disowns Osun governorship petition, says suit unauthorised

The Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike-backed Peoples Democratic Party has disowned a governorship election petition filed in its name before the Osun State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal, declaring that it neither authorised, sponsored nor endorsed the suit challenging the outcome of the August 15, 2026 election.

PDP National Publicity Secretary, Jungudo Mohammed, in a press briefing in Abuja on Wednesday, said its National Legal Adviser, Kamaldeen Ajibade, SAN, who is constitutionally empowered to institute legal proceedings on behalf of the party, did not authorise any individual or lawyer to file the petition.

On Monday, The PUNCH reported that notices of two separate petitions were posted on the notice board of the Osun State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal office.

The notices, signed by the Tribunal Secretary, Belemo Diete-Spiff, showed that the first petition, numbered EPT/Os/Gov/01/2026, was filed by the Osun State governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress, Bola Oyebamiji, and the APC against Ademola Adeleke, the Accord Party and the Independent National Electoral Commission.

In the second petition, EPT/Os/Gov/02/2026, the Peoples Democratic Party was listed as the petitioner, while the Independent National Electoral Commission, the Accord Party and Senator Ademola Adeleke were named as respondents.

However, in a swift development on Tuesday, counsel to the APC and its governorship candidate in the August 15 election, Seyi Oyagbile, filed a motion seeking to withdraw the petition filed on behalf of the party and Oyebamiji.

The motion, dated September 8, 2026, was filed at the tribunal’s office situated within the premises of the Osun State High Court in Osogbo.

Reacting, PDP challenged the lawyer allegedly responsible for the suit, Ochai Otokpa, to produce the authority or mandate upon which he acted in the party’s name.

Mohammed stated, “We have called this briefing to address reports concerning Election Petition No. EPT/OS/GOV/02/2026, purportedly filed in the name of the Peoples Democratic Party before the Osun State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal sitting in Oshogbo. We are here to tell you that the PDP did not authorise this petition. It is not our case.

“The Party neither instituted, sponsored, approved, nor endorsed the petition challenging the outcome of the 15 August 2026 Osun State Governorship Election. Under Article 42 of the PDP Constitution, the authority to institute and conduct legal proceedings on behalf of the Party is vested in the National Legal Adviser, and the National Legal Adviser of the PDP, A.K. Ajibade, SAN, did not authorise or issue any instruction to any individual or lawyer to file this petition on behalf of the PDP.

“We are aware that one Ochai Jacob Otokpa, Esq., is the lawyer purportedly responsible for filing the petition in the name of the Party. We therefore challenge him to produce the authority, instruction, or mandate upon which he relied in assuming the locus to institute proceedings in the name of the Peoples Democratic Party.

“Who instructed him? Who authorised him? And by what authority did he purport to act in the name of the PDP? These are legitimate questions to which the Party and the Nigerian public deserve clear answers.”

PDP disowned Election Petition No. EPT/OS/GOV/02/2026, saying the suit was neither instituted nor authorised by the party.

Mohammed maintained that the petition, filed in its name, was not commenced with its consent or approval and does not represent the party’s position on the outcome of the Osun State governorship election.

He continued, “It is equally instructive to inform the general public that even Mr. Adebayo Adedamola, popularly known as “Fryo,” who was purportedly presented as the PDP candidate in the 2026 Osun State Governorship Election, has publicly distanced himself from the purported petition.

“While speaking on TVC News on 7 September 2026, Mr. Adedamola stated that he did not instruct or retain any lawyer to institute a petition challenging the outcome of the election. The question further remains: on whose instructions was the petition filed?

“While the Legal Department of the PDP is taking immediate steps to formally withdraw the Party’s name from the purported proceedings, we wish to make it abundantly clear that the PDP does not recognise Election Petition No. EPT/OS/GOV/02/2026 as a proceeding instituted by or on behalf of the Party.

“We therefore call on the Osun State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal, INEC, the Accord Party, His Excellency, Governor Ademola Adeleke, security agencies, the media, and the general public to take note of the Party’s position and disregard the purported petition and its contents and any representation or claim that the said petition is an official PDP action.”

PDP has called on relevant authorities to investigate the circumstances surrounding the preparation and filing of the purported election petition, urging appropriate sanctions against anyone found to have impersonated the party or used its name and legal identity without authorisation.

The party said it would not allow individuals acting without its mandate to appropriate its name, constitutional authority or institutional identity, stressing that such actions would not be tolerated.