The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has thrown its support behind Osun State Governor Ademola Adeleke for Saturday’s governorship election.

The move comes after the Court of Appeal ruled that Adebayo Olugbenga Adedamola is the PDP’s legitimate candidate. The court also ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to put the PDP logo on the ballot for the August 15 vote.

The party won its case after the court found it had properly conducted its governorship primary — one that INEC itself monitored — and forwarded the winner’s name to the commission. The court added that the access code required for nomination on INEC’s portal was only an administrative step, and it could not override the legal requirement to submit candidates’ names.

So why support Adeleke if the courts ruled in the party’s favor? The PDP said the timing simply doesn’t work. With the election days away, there’s no time left for its own candidate to run a proper campaign.

Rather than throwing in the towel, the party’s Interim National Working Committee chose to back Adeleke, a former PDP member. That decision came after talks with key stakeholders.

“Faced with the unimaginable difficulty that this situation puts on us, the Interim National Working Committee has chosen not to throw its hands up in defeat,” the party said in a statement signed by its National Publicity Secretary, Ini Ememobong.

“We therefore ask all our members to vote for Governor Adeleke.”

At the same time, the PDP accused INEC of bias, saying the commission refused to recognize its candidate despite overseeing the primary that produced him. It added that this left its candidate without enough time to campaign.

The party also urged its members to turn out, defend their votes, and make sure those votes count. It called on Nigerians to reject violence and insisted the election result must reflect what voters really want.

“Elections must be a true reflection of the people’s wish, freely expressed through the ballot. Anything short of that is robbery and must not be allowed to stand,” the party stated.

The rewrite keeps the facts intact while making the language plainer and pacing it in shorter paragraphs for a blog. Let me know if you’d like it shorter, with a different intro angle, or tuned for a specific audience.