The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has disowned an election petition challenging the victory of Osun State Governor, Ademola Adeleke, in the 15 August 2026 governorship election, describing the petitioner as an impostor.
The party said it neither “instituted, sponsored, approved” nor endorsed the petition before the Osun State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal sitting in Osogbo.
The PDP’s position was conveyed during a news conference held at its Abuja National Secretariat on Wednesday by the National Publicity Secretary, Honourable Jungudo Haruna Mohammed.
Mohammed said the petition, marked EPT/OS/GOV/02/2026, “was not filed by the Peoples Democratic Party” and did not have the blessing or support of the party.
He stressed, “We are here to tell you that the PDP did not authorise this petition, and it is not our case. The party neither instituted, sponsored, approved, nor endorsed the petition challenging the outcome of the 15th August 2026 Osun State governorship election.”
Adeleke, a former member of the PDP, defected to Accord ahead of the poll and won his re-election for a second term on the Accord platform.
The governor polled 511,067 votes to beat his closest rival, Bola Oyebamiji of the All Progressives Congress (APC), who scored 444,815 votes.
Najeem Salaam of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) was third in line with 17,180 votes.
Speaking on Wednesday, Mohammed noted that only the National Legal Adviser of the PDP had the constitutional authority to file legal action on behalf of the party and nobody else, adding that in the extant case the legal adviser also did not delegate his authority to the said petitioner.
Mohammed identified one Ochai Jacob Otokpa as the lawyer purportedly responsible for filing the petition in the name of the PDP, challenging him to produce the mandate upon which he acted for the PDP.
“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,” he added as he maintained that the PDP completely dissociated itself from the petition.
He further said the purported PDP candidate in the election had, in a television interview on 7 September, stated that he neither authorised anyone nor engaged a lawyer to file the petition on his behalf.
The Publicity Secretary further stated that the development raised questions about who instructed Otokpa to file the petition and where he obtained the purported mandate.
On what the party would take to remedy the issue, Mohammed explained that the PDP’s Legal Department would take immediate steps to ensure that the petition was withdrawn.
However, the spokesman called on security agencies and other relevant authorities to investigate the circumstances surrounding the filing of the petition and take appropriate action against those found responsible.
He urged the Osun State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), the Accord Party, Governor Adeleke, the media and the general public to disregard the petition and its contents, adding that the party had already published a public disclaimer to make its position clear.
He spoke further, “The PDP is a creation of the law, and we have taken it upon ourselves that those days are gone where we tolerated such flagrant attitudes that tend to ridicule the party…
“We have decided to use the sledgehammer to deal with any individual, no matter how highly placed, whenever we find out that statements or positions are taken on behalf of the party without the due authority of the legitimate leadership of the party.”