Osun Gov Poll: Supreme Court Slates Tuesday For Judgement
The Supreme Court has fixed Tuesday (9th of May, 2023) to deliver judgement on an appeal seeking to terminate Governor Ademola Adeleke of Osun State from office.
In his appeal, former Governor, Oyetola is seeking the reversal of the March 25 judgment of the Court of Appeal in Abuja which affirmed Adeleke’s victory in the last governorship election in Osun State.
The Appeal Court had, in its judgement, set aside an earlier judgment by the Osun Governorship Election Petition Tribunal, which held in favour of Oyetola and removed Ademola Adeleke.
However, a five-member panel of the Supreme Court announced the date after taking arguments from lawyers to parties on Monday.
Recall that the Osun State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal had on January 27, in a split decision, voided the declaration of Adeleke of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, as winner of the gubernatorial election.
The Justice Tertsea Kume-led three-member panel tribunal, in its majority verdict, upheld a petition that was brought before it by the former governor of the state, Adegboyega Oyetola of the All Progressives Congress, APC, who came second in the election.
It held that Adeleke did not score the majority of lawful votes, adding that the conduct of the election was not in substantial compliance with provisions of the Electoral Act, 2022.
According to the tribunal, the petitioners, Oyetola and APC, successfully established that there was over voting in 744 polling units in the state.
After deducting the said invalid votes, the tribunal declared Oyetola as winner of the governorship contest, even as it directed the INEC to withdraw the Certificate of Return it earlier issued to Adeleke.
However, in his dissenting judgement, the third member of the panel, Justice P. Ogbuli, affirmed Adeleke as the valid winner of the election, even as he struck out the petition that was lodged by Oyetola and the APC.
