A Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Kunle Adegoke, has said the withdrawal of petitions challenging the 2026 Osun State governorship election will help protect peace and reduce the financial burden associated with prolonged election litigation.
Adegoke said continuing the legal battle could keep the state in political uncertainty, distract the government from governance and create conditions for supporters of rival political parties to become increasingly hostile.
He spoke on Thursday during an appearance on a current affairs programme on Eagle 102.5 FM, Ilese Ijebu, monitored by DAILYPOST, while examining 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 the uncertainty surrounding the outcome may affect both the government and the citizens.
He said an elected governor facing a prolonged legal challenge could become preoccupied with the dispute instead of concentrating fully on the responsibilities of governance.
Adegoke said, “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.”
The SAN said ordinary citizens were also affected because they would be left waiting for the outcome of the judicial process, while political supporters could become increasingly anxious.
He said such uncertainty could create opportunities for violent elements to exploit political divisions and attack supporters of opposing parties.
“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 attack one another, killing people, maiming,” he said.
Adegoke recalled the experience of previous election disputes in Osun State, saying prolonged litigation had in the past been accompanied by violence and destruction of property.
He said the experience should make political actors cautious about extending electoral disputes when there was an opportunity to prevent further tension and allow the state to focus on governance.
The SAN maintained that the consequences of political violence were rarely limited to politicians directly involved in an election, noting that ordinary citizens often bear the greatest cost.
“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?
“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 stated.
He maintained that public resources should not be unnecessarily committed to managing the consequences of political disputes when political actors could choose a peaceful path.
