Revealed: Why Tribunal Sacked Adeleke, Declared Oyetola as Osun State Governor

• Details of the judgement of the Osun state governorship election petition tribunal indicate Adeleke was sacked due to over-voting
• The tribunal explained that after deducting the excessive votes, the figure Oyetola polled at the election was 314, 921 while that of Adeleke came down to 290, 266
• Meanwhile, the sacked governor has reacted to the ruling and vowed to challenge it the Court of Appeal

Osogbo, Osun state - Friday, January 27, is another important day in Nigeria's political history as the Osun state governorship election petition tribunal sacked Ademola Adeleke as governor of the state.

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) on Sunday, July 17, declared Adeleke, the governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), as the winner of the 2022 governorship election in Osun state.

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Oluwatoyin Ogundipe, the returning officer, read out the results of the election.

According to Ogundipe, Adeleke secured 403, 371 votes to defeat his closest challenger, Oyetola, who polled 375,027 votes. The PDP candidate was said to have won 17 LGAs while the incumbent governor secured victory in 13 LGAs.

However, in August 2022, Oyetola of the All Progressives Congress (APC) rejected the result and petitioned the tribunal to challenge Adeleke's victory.

Among several issues, Oyetola contended that there was overvoting in 749 polling units across 10 LGAs of the state.

Giving its verdict on Friday, the tribunal ruled in favour of Oyetola and annulled the result of the July 16 Osun governorship poll.

Over-voting: Why Tribunal sacked Ademola Adeleke

Delivering the majority ruling, Justice Tetsea Kume declared that INEC did not comply substantially with the constitution and the provisions of the Electoral Act.

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The tribunal held that the governorship election was characterized by over-voting.

It said after deducting the excessive votes, the figure Oyetola polled at the election was 314, 921 while that of Adeleke came down to 290, 266.

The tribunal, therefore, ordered that Oyetola should be returned as governor of Osun state while it ordered INEC to withdraw the certificate of return from Adeleke.

Adeleke reacts as tribunal sacked him as Osun governor

Meanwhile, Governor Ademola Adeleke of Osun state has rejected the tribunal ruling which sacked him, describing it as “a m*iscarriage of justice”.

The Osun state governor vowed to challenge the ruling at the Court of Appeal. Ademola Adeleke vowed to appeal the tribunal ruling which sacked him as Osun state governor.

Meanwhile, Adeleke will remain in office pending the final determination of the matter by superior courts; the Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court.

Source: Legit.ng