The Osun State Governor, Ademola Adeleke has appealed to his supporters to remain calm over the recent judgment delivered by the Osun State Election Tribunal.
Recall, the election tribunal sitting in Osogbo, the Osun State Capital earlier today, January 27, 2023 dismissed Governor Ademola Adeleke of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) as the duly elected state governor of the july 16, 2022 governorship election in the State.
The court in a separate two-to-one document said, the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, should withdraw the Certificate of Return issued to Adeleke and be issue to former Governor Adegboyega Oyetola of the All Progressive Congress (APC).
A majority decision read by the chairman, Justice Tertse Kume said that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) did not comply substantially with the Constitution and the provisions of the Electoral Act.
Consequently, He deducted the over-voting observed from the votes scored by the candidates and declared that Adegboyega Oyetola of the All Progressives Congress (APC) won the election, having polled 314,921, while Adeleke’s score came down to 290,266.
In a swift reaction, Senator Ademola Adeleke described the judgement of the governorship tribunal as ” a miscarriage of justice”, vowing to challenge the ruling at the Court of Appeal.
He faulted the resolution of the over-voting question in favour of Mr Oyetola, calling it ” an unfair interpretation against the will of majority of voters”.
While urging his supporters to remain calm, Governor Adeleke vowed to appeal the judgement at the Court of Appeal, insisting he remains the rightful winner of the July 16 election.
“I call on our people to remain calm. We will appeal the judgement and we are sure justice will be done. Let our people be reassured that we will do everything possible to retain this widely acclaimed mandate”, Governor Adeleke declared.
