Ademola Adeleke of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) appealed the result of the election petition trial that nullified his election as governor of Osun State, and the Court of Appeal, Abuja, reserved judgment on that appeal on Monday.
After hearing from the attorneys for the parties in the case, a three-member panel headed by M. F. Shuaibu announced that they will be informed of the judgment’s date later.
Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) Onyechi Ikpeazu represented Mr. Adeleke, while Lateef Fagbemi, another SAN, represented Gboyega Oyetola, the former governor who lost his quest for reelection in the election.
The PDP was represented by Alex Iziyon, SAN, and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), who were both represented by Paul Ananaba, SAN, declined to submit any court documents in the matter.
According to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), the All Progressives Congress (APC) and Mr. Oyetola are the first and second respondents in the appeal with the file number CA/AK/EPT/GOV/01/2023, while Mr. Adeleke of the PDP is the appellant.
Furthermore included as the third and fourth respondents, respectively, are INEC and the PDP.
The cross-appeals filed by the PDP, INEC, and Mr. Oyetola are also anticipated to be heard by the appellate court.
According to NAN, the Osun State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal nullified the election that elected Mr. Adeleke of the PDP as governor on July 16, 2022, on January 27, 2019.
A total of 403,371 votes were cast in the election, and INEC proclaimed Mr. Adeleke the victor.
According to reports, he won in 17 out of the state’s 30 local government units.
However the electoral petition tribunal annulled the election and proclaimed Mr. Oyetola of the APC the victor in a split ruling of two to one.
The certificate of return given to Mr. Adeleke and his deputy, Kola Adewusi, both of whom had been sworn in, was ordered by the tribunal, which was presided over by Terste Kume, to be withdrawn by INEC.
But, it stipulated that Mr. Oyetola should receive the certificate of return in its place.
According to Mr. Kume, the governorship election was not conducted in accordance with the Nigerian Election Act.
The panel concluded that there was excessive voting in the governorship race.
According to the report, Mr. Oyetola received 314, 921 votes in the election after the excessive votes were subtracted.
As a result, the panel ruled that Mr. Oyetola be reinstated as governor of Osun State.
According to NAN, INEC initially declared Mr. Oyetola the winner of the governorship election on July 16, 2022, with 375,027 votes cast in 13 LGAs.
The election, which featured 15 candidates but was primarily a two-horse race between Messrs. Adeleke and Oyetola.
The state’s recently-departed governor, Mr. Oyetola, said in his plea that there was over voting at 749 of the polling places during the election.
Additionally, he claimed that Mr. Adeleke filed false academic credentials to the NEC in order to run for office.
A few weeks after the governorship election, in August 2022, the tribunal first met.
The petitioners in the case were Mr. Oyetola and the APC, and their principal attorneys were Lateef Fagbemi, SAN, and Akin Olujimi, SAN.
The first defendant was INEC, the second defendant was Mr. Adeleke, and the third defendant was PDP.
(NAN)
