PDP Never Authorized Any Petition Against Outcome Of Osun Gov. Election – Spokesman

MBy Ayodele Oni

The national leadership of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) has announced that it is unaware of the petition filed at the Osun Governorship Election Petition Tribunal challenging the victory of Governor Ademola Adeleke, candidate of Accord Party.

The Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, had declared Adeleke winner of the poll, defeating his closest challenger Oyebamiji of the All Progressives Congress APC with 66,000 votes.

Addressing a news conference in Abuja on Wednesday, PDP’s Spokesperson,

Jungudo Haruna Mohammed, disowned the 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 Osogbo.

He declared “We are here to tell you that the PDP did not authorize 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 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.

“The Party therefore completely disowns and dissociates itself from Election Petition No. EPT/OS/GOV/02/2026.

“Until such authority is produced, the PDP maintains its unequivocal position that Election Petition No. EPT/OS/GOV/02/2026 was not instituted with the authority or consent of the Peoples Democratic Party and does not represent the position of the Party.

“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.

“We further call on the appropriate authorities to investigate the circumstances surrounding the preparation and filing of the purported petition and to take appropriate action against anyone found to have unlawfully impersonated the Party or used its name, identity, or legal personality without authority.

“The PDP will not allow its name, constitutional authority, or institutional identity to be appropriated by individuals acting without the mandate of the Party.”