A Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Kunle Adegoke, has said the withdrawal of petitions challenging the outcome of the 2026 Osun State governorship election will help preserve peace, reduce political tension and save public funds that could otherwise be committed to prolonged election litigation.
Adegoke made the submission on Thursday while appearing on Frontline, a current affairs programme on Eagle 102.5 FM, Ilese Ijebu, Ogun State, where he examined the implications of the withdrawal of petitions challenging Governor Ademola Adeleke’s victory in the August 15 governorship election.
According to him, prolonged litigation over an election could keep the state in political uncertainty, distract the government from governance and create an atmosphere in which supporters of rival political parties become increasingly hostile.
“When you go to the tribunal to challenge the result of an election, the entire state will be on the edge. You will discover that everybody, not only the elected governor or whomsoever, will be so shifty in terms of performance and what have you, because it doesn’t allow such an elected person to concentrate on the business of governance,” he said.
The SAN added that the uncertainty created by election litigation also affects ordinary citizens, who would remain anxious while awaiting the outcome of the judicial process.
“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. And you discover that violent elements will take that opportunity to be attacking one another, killing people, maiming,” Adegoke said.
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.
Adegoke said the experience should encourage political actors to consider the wider interest of the people when deciding whether to pursue prolonged electoral disputes.
He noted that the consequences of political violence often extend beyond politicians and their supporters, with ordinary citizens, particularly the poor, bearing the greatest burden.
“The people that are being killed, the majority of them are poor people. So who did not have any grievance against one another until this political something came up?” he asked.
The SAN also raised concerns about the financial cost of maintaining prolonged election litigation, arguing that public resources were required to sustain the tribunal process and related 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 scarce public resources should not unnecessarily be committed to managing the consequences of political disputes when there was an opportunity to pursue peace and allow the government to concentrate on governance.
Adegoke acknowledged that politicians were naturally inclined to defend their political interests, particularly when they believed that principles and integrity were involved.
“We are fighters, and that is what we very enjoy also, when it is based on principles, when it is based on integrity and the protection of the interest of the masses, which is number one to us,” he said.
However, he maintained that the circumstances surrounding the Osun election required consideration of the broader interest of the people.
“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.
Explaining the decision not to continue with the tribunal process, Adegoke said it was also intended to prevent political supporters from becoming targets of violence.
“That’s why we decided not to go to the tribunal. We didn’t want to complicate things further. If we were at the tribunal now, you can imagine what would have been happening. They will be hounding our people. Our people will be attacking them,” he said.
He condemned the use of violence as a means of political participation, particularly by individuals who hide under political activities to attack opponents.
Adegoke also urged government and political leaders to ensure that laws designed to protect citizens were effectively enforced.
“There are certain laws made to protect the interest of the people but which the government has not been implementing,” he said.
The SAN further warned politicians against statements and actions capable of encouraging violence, saying public office requires restraint, decorum and responsibility.
“The public office is not a place of our temper. It’s a place of decorum, of controlling one’s abilities, you know, to respond to issues. We shouldn’t let events around us dictate how we respond. We are the ones that must determine how we respond to issues and developments around us,” he said.
Reacting to concerns over a statement attributed to Senator Fadahunsi, Adegoke said he would not justify the remark, noting that the senator had apologised and withdrawn it.
“I don’t want to justify the statement made by Senator Fadamsi. 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 aspiring to public office must understand that their responsibility is to govern living citizens and protect their lives irrespective of political affiliation.
“We want to govern the people, want to govern living beings, not corpses, not dead bodies. So to that extent definitely, the people that are going to be killed, whether in Accord or in APC, PDP or elsewhere, they are our brothers and sisters,” he said.
He added that even individuals regarded as violent or having undesirable character should not be treated as people who deserved death, saying society’s responsibility should be 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.
The SAN said the withdrawal of the petitions should give Osun an opportunity to lower the political temperature and return attention to governance.
The August 15 governorship election was won by Adeleke, who was declared winner by the Independent National Electoral Commission with 511,067 votes, while the All Progressives Congress candidate, Bola Oyebamiji, polled 444,815 votes.
Petitions purportedly filed by the APC and the Peoples Democratic Party 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.
