A legal dispute has emerged over the authenticity and authorisation of the All Progressives Congress (APC) petition challenging the re-election of Osun State Governor Ademola Adeleke, with two legal positions emerging over who authorised the case. Government

The APC and its governorship candidate, Bola Oyebamiji, are challenging Adeleke, the Accord Party and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) before the Osun State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal in a suit marked EPT/OS/GOV/01/2026.

A legal team led by Barrister Oluseyi Oyagbile filed the petition.

However, Dr Abiodun Layonu, SAN, who said he was speaking on behalf of the APC legal team, disowned the petition on Monday. Government

In a statement, Layonu said the party and its candidate had not authorised the filing of the petition.

“Our clients and the entire legal team were shocked to read the purported Petition, as neither the candidate nor the party authorised the filing of same,” he said.

He added, “We hereby denounce in absolute terms the purported Petition filed in the name of APC and its gubernatorial candidate.”

Layonu urged APC members and the public to disregard the petition, saying it did not emanate from the party’s legal team.

However, Oyagbile, whose team filed the petition, told The Nation on Monday night that the petition was validly signed by Kayode Adereti, Oyebamiji’s deputy governorship candidate.

“If you visit the Tribunal and examine the petition, you will discover that it was signed by the deputy governorship candidate of the party, Kayode Adereti,” he said.

Oyagbile said he was unaware of the lawyers Layonu referred to or the circumstances surrounding their engagement.

He explained that he filed the petition based on his understanding that Adereti had the locus to initiate the action, having contested alongside Oyebamiji on a joint ticket.

“I filed the petition based on the understanding that the deputy governorship candidate of the party has the locus to file an election petition, considering the fact that he Is on a joint ticket with the candidate,” he said.

According to Oyagbile, Adereti could have been authorised or seconded to sign the petition and had personally appeared to execute the document.

He said there was no legal impediment to representing a person who had instructed him to act in the matter.

“If the party decided that they don’t want to be a part of the case or they want it to be withdrawn, that is not a problem; that is something else entirely,” he added.

Oyagbile also rejected the suggestion that he was required to consult a particular APC legal team before filing the case.

“I don’t know anything about any APC legal team, and secondly, I don’t know of any law that says a particular lawyer must be called for a particular case,” he said.

He maintained that any person with the requisite standing could engage a lawyer, adding that the disagreement over whether other members of the party’s legal team were consulted was separate from the circumstances surrounding the filing of the petition. (The Nation)