The Supreme Court on Tuesday set aside the appeal by Adegboyega Oyetola of the All Progressives Congress (APC) challenging the election of Ademola Adeleke of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) as Osun State Governor.
The apex court, in its judgment read by Justice Emmanuel Agim, also upheld the Appeal Court’s judgment which upheld the election of Adeleke as the state governor.
The apex court held that the appellant failed to adduce enough evidence to prove his allegation of over voting in the July 16, 2022 governorship poll.
The judgment was affirmed and adopted by the entire five members of the panel.
According to all the members of the panel, the appeal lacked merit.
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had declared Adeleke the winner of the poll, saying he scored 403,371 votes to sack Oyetola who was the then incumbent with 375,027.
However, Oyetola and his party had alleged irregularities in the polls and challenged Adeleke’s victory at the Tribunal.
Respite came for the former governor on January 27, 2023 as Justice Tertse Kume who gave the majority judgement upturned Adeleke’s victory and declared Oyetola the winner of the poll.
Justice Kume held that Oyetola scored the majority lawful votes of 314,931 against Adeleke’s 290,266.
Dissatisfied with the judgement, Adeleke and the PDP headed to the Court of Appeal, which on March 24 nullified the Tribunal judgment and returned Adeleke as the winner.
Aggrieved with the Appeal Court’s verdict, Oyetola and the PDP headed for the Supreme Court also backed the Appeal Court and upheld Adeleke’s victory.
Adeleke dedicates victory to God
Governor Ademola Adeleke of Osun State has dedicated his victory at the Supreme Court to God and the people of the state.
He claimed there was overvoting. But a five-man panel of justices dismissed Oyetola’s appeal, saying it lacked merit, and upheld Adeleke’s win at the Appeal Court.
Minutes after the verdict, the Governor who contested under the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) thanked the people for their support.
“I describe this victory as one dedicated to the Almighty God and the people of Osun,” he said. “They stood by me to let me know that they love me and I love them back.”
His party equally sent lauded the judgement, saying it affirms the PDP’s popularity among Nigerians.
