The Court of Appeal Abuja has set aside the decision of the Osun State Governorship tribunal, and upheld the Governorship of Senator Ademola Adeleke.
In a judgment delivered by a three-member panel of the appellate court, presided over by Justice Mohammed Shuaibu, held that Gboyega Oyetola and his party, the All Progressives Congress (APC) – listed as the first and second respondents – failed to prove their allegation of over voting before the election tribunal.
Recall that the Osun State Governorship Election Tribunal, in January, had held that former Governor Oyetola was able to prove that there was over-voting in some of the polling units.
Consequently, the majority judgment of the tribunal ordered INEC to withdraw the certificate of return issued to Adeleke and issue a fresh one to Oyetola as the duly elected governor of Osun.
Dissatisfied with the ruling, Adeleke had appealed the judgment at the court of appeal.
It would also be recalled that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had on July 17, 2022, declared the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Candidate, Adeleke winner of the Osun governorship election after he polled 403,371 votes to defeat, Adegboyega Oyetola of the All Progressives Congress, who got 375,027 votes in a keenly contested race.
