The Peoples Democratic Party has distanced itself from a governorship election petition reportedly filed in its name before the Osun State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal, insisting that it neither authorised nor endorsed the legal action.
The party’s National Publicity Secretary, Jungudo Mohammed, made the position known at a press briefing in Abuja on Wednesday, saying the petition challenging the outcome of the August 15, 2026 governorship election was not an official action of the PDP.
Mohammed explained that the party’s National Legal Adviser, Kamaldeen Ajibade, SAN, who is empowered under the PDP constitution to institute legal proceedings on behalf of the party, did not give any lawyer a mandate to file the suit.
He said, “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.”
The controversy followed the appearance of a notice for Election Petition No. EPT/OS/GOV/02/2026 on the notice board of the Osun State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal in Osogbo.
The petition listed the PDP as the petitioner, while the Independent National Electoral Commission, the Accord Party and Governor Ademola Adeleke were named as respondents.
Mohammed said the party was aware that a lawyer, Ochai Jacob Otokpa, was purportedly responsible for filing the case and challenged him to explain the authority under which he acted.
“We 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 said.
The PDP spokesman also claimed that Adebayo Adedamola, popularly known as Fryo, who was reportedly presented as the party’s candidate in the election, had equally denied instructing any lawyer to challenge the result.
According to Mohammed, Adedamola stated during a television interview on September 7 that he did not retain any lawyer to file an election petition.
He added, “The question further remains: on whose instructions was the petition filed?”
The PDP said its legal department had commenced steps to remove the party’s name from the proceedings, stressing that it did not recognise the petition as a suit instituted on its behalf.
The party urged the election tribunal, INEC, the Accord Party, Governor Adeleke, security agencies and the public to disregard the petition and any claims suggesting that it represents the PDP’s official position.
Meanwhile, the opposition party called for an investigation into the circumstances surrounding the preparation and filing of the suit.
It urged relevant authorities to sanction anyone found to have impersonated the party or used its name and legal identity without proper authorisation.
The PDP maintained that it would not permit individuals acting without its mandate to use the party’s name or constitutional authority for unauthorised legal proceedings.
