The Osun State governorship election petition tribunal sitting in Osogbo on Friday sacked Mr. Ademola Adeleke as the duly elected governor of the state.
The tribunal in a split judgement of two to one directed the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, to withdraw the certificate of return from Adeleke and issue same to former governor, Mr. Adegboyega Oyetola of the All Progressives Congress (APC).
The majority judgement which was read by the chairman, Justice Tertse Kume said Oyetola scored the majority lawful votes of 314, 931 against Adeleke’s 290, 266.
Justice Kume held that the governorship election was not held in compliance with Nigeria’s Electoral Act.
The tribunal held that the governorship election was characterised by over-voting.
It said after deducting the excessive votes, Oyetola polled a total of 314, 921.
Recall that Adeleke of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) defeated Oyetola in the July 16, 2023 poll in the state.
He was declared the winner after polling 403,371 against Oyetola’s 375,027 votes.
The PDP candidate won in 17 of the 30 local government areas of the state while Oyetola won in the remaining 13.
Not satisfied with the declaration by the electoral umpire, Oyetola had filed a petition at the tribunal challenging the declaration of Adeleke as the winner of the election.
He asked the tribunal to nullify the election, alleging rigging by over voting, infractions in some polling units, and the authenticity of the West African Examination Council (WAEC) certificate presented by the PDP candidate among other grounds.
Meanwhile, Adeleke has rejected the verdict saying it is a miscarriage of justice and vowed to challenge it at the Court of Appeal.
Reacting in a statement entitled ‘Tribunal judgement: Governor Adeleke rejects tribunal verdict, heads to Appeal Court’ Adeleke faulted the tribunal’s judgement saying it is “an unfair interpretation against the will of majority of voters.”
The statement signed by his spokesman, Mr. Olawale Rasheed reads: “The Executive Governor of Osun State, Senator Ademola Adeleke has described the judgement of the governorship tribunal as “a miscarriage of justice”, vowing to challenge the ruling at the Court of Appeal.
“Reacting to the verdict of the tribunal from his country home, Ede, Governor Adeleke faulted the resolution of the over-voting question in favour of Oyetola, calling it “an unfair interpretation against the will of majority of voters”
“While urging his supporters to remain calm, Governor Adeleke vowed to appeal the judgement at the Court of Appeal, insisting he remains the rightful winner of the July 16 election.
“I call on our people to remain calm. We will appeal the judgement and we are sure justice will be done. Let our people be reassured that we will do everything possible to retain this widely acclaimed mandate.”
