Victor Ezeja
Supreme Court has upheld the judgement of the Appeal Court which ruled that Ademola Adeleke was validly elected as Governor of Osun State.
The apex court gave the ruling at its sitting on Tuesday.
The five-man panel of justices of the court set aside the appeal by Adegboyega Oyetola of the All Progressives Congress (APC) challenging the election of Adeleke on 16 July 2022.
Oyetola filed an appeal challenging the decision of the Abuja division of Appeal Court which voided the judgment of the Osun State Election Petition Tribunal, thar returned him as winner of the governorship election.
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The apex court, in its judgment read by Justice Emmanuel Agim held that the appellant (Oyetola) failed to provide substantial evidence to prove his allegation of over voting in the governorship poll.
While Prince Lateef Fagbemi, SAN represented Oyetola and APC, Paul Ananaba, SAN represented INEC, and Chief Onyechi Ikpeazu, SAN represented Adeleke and the People’s Democratic Party (PDP).
INEC had last year declared Adeleke as winner of the election having scored majority of the votes cast in the election, however the tribunal in its split judgment of two-to-one delivered in January 2023 held that Oyetola and not Adeleke won majority of the lawful votes in the election.
Chairman of the tribunal, Justice Tertsea Kume, held that there were incidents of over voting in favour of Adeleke, which when deducted revealed that Oyetola polled 314,921 votes as against the incumbent’s 290,266.
The tribunal accordingly ordered the withdrawal of Certificate of Return issued to Adeleke while a fresh one be issued Oyetola as the duly elected governor.
However, following Adeleke’s appeal in February, the appellate court’s three man panel in its own judgment by Justice Mohammed Shuaibu voided and set aside the decision of the tribunal on the grounds that the tribunal erred in holding that a case of over voting was established, consequent upon which Adeleke’s votes were deducted.
The judgment of the Court of Appeal setting aside the judgment of the tribunal and affirming Adeleke’s election as governor, prompted the appeal before the Supreme Court.
Victor Ezeja is a passionate journalist with seven years of experience writing on economy, politics and energy. He holds a Master's degree in Mass Communication.
