By Michael Ofulue, Osogbo

The Osun State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has admonished Governor Ademola Adeleke to desist from claiming that he won the 2018 governorship election in the state.

The party reminded Adeleke that he lost to Gboyega Oyetola and accused him of undermining the judiciary by persistently asserting that he emerged victorious in the 2018 poll.

The APC stated, “Your action disparages the judiciary because you lost up to the Supreme Court. Stop using every opportunity to speak publicly to claim victory in an election you clearly lost.”

According to the opposition, Adeleke’s claims reflect a lack of confidence in the judiciary, which upheld Oyetola’s victory at the apex court.

In a statement issued on Tuesday, the APC’s Director of Media and Information, Kola Olabisi, criticised Adeleke for allegedly reiterating his 2018 election claims whenever he has the chance to speak publicly.

“Senator Adeleke should be reminded that a governorship election in Nigeria is a process which begins at the primary level, proceeds to the election proper, then to the tribunal, the Court of Appeal, and ultimately concludes at the Supreme Court.

“It is instructive to drum it into Governor Adeleke that any allusion made by him or any other person that he won the 2018 governorship election is not only contemptuous but amounts to rebuking the judiciary, suggesting it does not know what it is doing,” the statement read.

The APC expressed astonishment that a beneficiary of the judiciary during the 2022 election would criticise the same institution for its earlier rulings.

“It beats the imagination of any right-thinking members of the society that a beneficiary of the same judiciary during the 2022 election could be bold enough to deride the same judiciary that pronounced him the winner of the governorship election against Alhaji Oyetola, the APC candidate,” the party stated.

The APC reaffirmed its respect for the judiciary, stating that as a party committed to democracy and the rule of law, it had moved on from the 2018 election.

Adeleke had reportedly told a television station recently that he was rigged out of the 2018 governorship election.

“We want to make it abundantly clear to Governor Adeleke and his co-travellers that his continuous disparaging of the judiciary over his loss of the 2018 governorship election would not confer any special advantage on him in the 2026 election, which he should be prepared to lose because of his unenviable scorecard,” the APC concluded.