APC Withdrew Its Osun Petition, Because Even the Petition Was Confused About Why It Was There

Osun APC has withdrawn its petition challenging Governor Ademola Adeleke’s victory, and honestly, this whole thing has the energy of a Nigerian family WhatsApp group where somebody sends a message, everybody starts fighting, and five minutes later the sender says, “Please ignore my previous message.”

The petition was displayed at the Osun Governorship Election Petition Tribunal in Osogbo on Monday, listing APC and its candidate, Bola Oyebamiji, as petitioners. Problem? The party’s own legal team immediately said, “Who authorised this thing?”

That is how you know Nigerian politics can produce plot twists without even hiring a screenwriter.

Oyebamiji had already conceded defeat and congratulated Adeleke after the August 15 election. Adeleke won 511,067 votes against Oyebamiji’s 444,815. So everybody apparently shook hands, smiled for the cameras and went home.

Then, somehow, a petition appeared.

Imagine waking up and discovering that you are suing somebody, only for your lawyer to tell the world that you did not tell him to sue anybody.

The APC legal team said it had actually advised against challenging the election, partly to de-escalate tensions and allow peace to reign.

Meanwhile, the petition had already reached the tribunal.

At this point, Osun APC looked like the friend who enters a fight, throws one punch, then turns around and asks, “Wait, who are we fighting?”

But the story gets even more Nigerian.

The lawyer who filed the petition, Oluseyi Oyagbile, eventually withdrew it after receiving fresh instructions from APC leaders and his client. And because apparently nobody wanted another episode of Who Sent You?, he said they sent the withdrawal instruction to him via WhatsApp so there would be evidence.

You cannot make this up.

Somewhere in Nigeria, a lawyer is now keeping WhatsApp screenshots like they are exhibits in a Netflix documentary.

And just like that, the legal challenge that entered the tribunal with all the confidence of a serious political battle has exited before the opening credits finished rolling.

The funniest part is that this happened after the election, after the concession, after the congratulations and after the lawyers had already said “please, let peace reign.”

At this point, the real winner of Osun’s election may not even be Adeleke.

It might be the “Delete for Everyone” button.