Osun Poll: Prolonged litigation may distract government, fuel violence — Adegoke

Michael Olumide Alabi

A Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), Kunle Adegoke, has said the withdrawal of petitions challenging the outcome of the 2026 Osun State governorship election will help protect public funds, reduce political tension and enable the state to focus on governance.

Adegoke said prolonged election litigation could keep the state in political uncertainty, distract the government from governance and create conditions capable of escalating hostility among supporters of rival political parties.

The SAN spoke on Thursday during an appearance on Frontline, a current affairs programme on Eagle 102.5 FM, Ilese-Ijebu, Ogun State, while discussing the implications of the withdrawal of petitions challenging Governor Ademola Adeleke’s victory in the August 15 governorship election.

According to him, taking an election dispute to the tribunal could place the entire state under tension because uncertainty over the outcome could affect both the government and citizens.

“When you go to the tribunal to challenge the result of an election, the entire state will be on the edge,” Adegoke said.

He argued that an elected governor facing prolonged litigation could become preoccupied with the legal battle instead of concentrating fully on governance.

He added that ordinary citizens would also be affected because they would remain anxious over the outcome of the judicial process, while political supporters could become increasingly hostile.

“The same thing happens to the mass of the people who participated in the election. Everybody will be eager, will be pensive, expecting what will be the outcome of the tribunal,” he said.

Adegoke warned that political uncertainty could provide opportunities for violent elements to exploit divisions and attack supporters of opposing parties.

He recalled previous election disputes in Osun State, saying prolonged litigation had in the past been accompanied by violence, deaths and destruction of property.

“For the three and a half years that we were at the tribunal, people were being killed, people were being maimed, properties were being destroyed,” he said.

The SAN said the experience should encourage political actors to consider the wider interests of the people before prolonging electoral disputes.

He maintained that the consequences of political violence were rarely limited to politicians directly involved in an election, stressing that ordinary citizens often bear the greatest burden.

“The people that are being killed, the majority of them are poor people,” Adegoke said, questioning why citizens who had no personal grievances against one another should become victims of political disputes.
Public funds

Adegoke also highlighted the financial implications of prolonged election litigation, saying public resources were required to maintain the tribunal process and associated administrative arrangements.

“Rather than even using taxpayers’ money, because for the tribunal to be maintained, for the process to go smoothly and what have you, it costs the government a lot of money. So we can avoid all this. You know, the economy has not been good enough,” he said.
He argued that public resources should not unnecessarily be committed to managing the consequences of political disputes when political actors could choose a peaceful path.
The SAN acknowledged that politicians were naturally inclined to defend their political interests, particularly where they believed principles and integrity were involved.

“We are fighters, and that is what we enjoy very much when it is based on principles, when it is based on integrity and the protection of the interests of the masses, which is number one to us,” he said.

However, he said the circumstances surrounding the Osun election required consideration of the wider public interest.

“But in this instance, we believe that in the interest of the masses, the polity will be better protected by us allowing this particular instance to just go by,” he added.

Adegoke said the decision not to continue with the tribunal process was also aimed at preventing supporters of opposing political parties from becoming targets of attacks.
“That’s why we decided not to go to the tribunal. We didn’t want to complicate things further,” he said.

Calls for restraint

The SAN condemned the use of violence as a tool of political participation, particularly by individuals who allegedly hide behind political activities to attack opponents.

He criticised what he described as “hooligans who, in the name of political participation, resort to violence,” insisting that political activity should remain within the limits of the law.

Adegoke also said government and political leaders had a responsibility to ensure that laws designed to protect citizens were properly enforced.

“There are certain laws made to protect the interests of the people, but which the government has not been implementing,” he said.

He further warned politicians against statements or actions capable of encouraging violence, stressing that public office demanded restraint and responsibility.

“The public office is not a place of our temper. It’s a place of decorum, of controlling one’s abilities,” he said.

On Senator Fadahunsi’s statement

Responding to concerns over a statement attributed to Senator Fadahunsi, Adegoke said he would not justify the statement, noting that the senator had apologised and withdrawn it.

“I don’t want to justify the statement made by Senator Fadahunsi. I’m not holding his brief. It’s a statement that has been wrongly condemned. That doesn’t mean that it’s not a seasoned politician,” he said.

Adegoke stressed that politicians seeking public office should understand that their ultimate responsibility was to govern living citizens and protect their lives regardless of political affiliation.

“We want to govern the people, want to govern living beings, not corpses, not dead bodies,” he said.

He added that even individuals considered violent or difficult should not be treated as people who deserved death, arguing that society should instead seek to reform them.

“Some of them might be violent, some of them might be people of less desirable character, but we don’t have the mandate to sentence them to death. Ours is to aspire to reform them,” he said.

Adegoke said the withdrawal of the petitions should provide Osun State an opportunity to lower the political temperature and return attention to governance.

The August 15 governorship election was won by Adeleke, who was declared by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) with 511,067 votes, while the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate, Bola Oyebamiji, polled 444,815 votes.

Petitions purportedly filed by the APC and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) were subsequently displayed at the Osun State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal in Osogbo.

Both parties, however, denied authorising the petitions. The APC said its legal team, after consultations with Oyebamiji and party leaders, decided not to challenge the election in the interest of peace, while the PDP said its candidate, Adebayo Adedamola, had not authorised any legal challenge.