January 27, (THEWILL) – The Osun State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal sitting in Osogbo has declared the All Progressives Congress (APC) and its candidate, Gboyega Oyetola, winner of the July 16, 2022, governorship election in the state.
The Tribunal, led by Justice Tertse Kume, held that the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and its candidate, Senator Ademola Adeleke were not validly elected
Justice Kume declared that INEC did not comply substantially with the Constitution and the provisions of the Electoral Act.
Citing over-voting, the tribunal deducted the over-voting observed from the votes scored by the candidates and declared that Oyetola won the election, having polled 314, 921, while Adeleke’s score came down to 290, 266.
The Tribunal directed INEC to withdraw Adeleke’s certificate of return and issued another one to Oyetola, who won a majority of the lawful votes.
Oyetola and the APC had in August 2022, petitioned the tribunal to challenge the election victory of Adeleke.
Among several issues, Oyetola alleged over-voting in 749 polling units across 10 LGAs of the state.
At its final written address, counsel to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Paul Ananaba, had insisted that Adeleke won the governorship poll.
“The petitioners complained of over-voting and infractions by picking 749 polling units to contend with from 1,750 polling units, according to the first respondent witnessed (RW1).
“If a deduction of 1,750 units was carried out from the total 3,763 units in the state, the second respondent will still emerge as the winner with over 20,000 votes,” Ananaba had said.
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