Osun Poll: Adeleke’s Victory Unchallenged as Tribunal Window Closes

The victory of Osun State Governor Ademola Adeleke in the August 15 governorship election has gone unchallenged at the tribunal after the 21-day period allowed for filing petitions ended on Saturday, September 5, 2026.

No petition was filed by any of the political parties that contested the election to challenge the result declared by the Independent National Electoral Commission. Fifteen parties participated in the election, while Adeleke, who contested under the Accord Party, emerged winner with 511,067 votes.

His closest rival, the All Progressives Congress candidate, Bola Oyebamiji, scored 444,815 votes.

Following the announcement of the results, the Osun State Election Petition Tribunal opened its registry at the State High Court premises in Oke Fia, Osogbo, to receive petitions from candidates or parties dissatisfied with the outcome.

The tribunal registry remained open on Saturday, which was the final day for filing petitions. However, a staff member at the office confirmed that no petition had been submitted before the deadline.

The development means that none of the defeated candidates moved to the tribunal to seek the cancellation or review of Adeleke’s victory within the period provided by law.

Efforts to obtain the reaction of the Osun State APC were unsuccessful. Calls placed to the party’s spokesperson, Kola Olabisi, were not answered, while a WhatsApp message seeking the party’s position had not received a response as of Sunday.

A member of the APC legal team, who spoke anonymously because he was not authorised to comment publicly, explained that the party had considered going to court but eventually decided against it.

According to the legal team member, the party believed it had grounds to question the election result, but its leadership and lawyers agreed that avoiding litigation was preferable in the interest of peace.

The decision has also received support from some opposition figures in the state.

Osun Accord chairman Victor Akande described the refusal of opposition candidates to challenge the result as a sign of political maturity. He said allowing an election to end at the polling stage, where the process is considered acceptable, can be beneficial to democracy.

Similarly, the Social Democratic Party governorship candidate, Olugbenga Ajala, said his party accepted the outcome because it considered the election process sufficiently fair.

Ajala said the party would have approached the tribunal if it believed the election was not credible. However, after reviewing the process, he said the party was satisfied with the result and accepted that the candidate with the highest support had won.

With the 21-day petition period now closed without any challenge, Adeleke’s victory remains intact, leaving him to continue his second-term mandate without a tribunal contest over the August 15 election result.