January 27, (THEWILL) – A former Deputy National Publicity Secretary of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Timi Frank, has called on the National Judicial Council (NJC), to urgently cause a probe of the judgement of the Osun State Election Petition Tribunal, which sacked Senator Ademola Adeleke, as duly elected governor of the State.
THEWILL reports that the Osun State Election Petition Tribunal, on Friday, declared Gboyega Oyetola, as winner of the July 16 governorship election in the State.
The three-man panel of justices, led by Justice Tertse Kume, in a split judgement of two to one, held that the July 16, 2022 election, was not conducted in compliance with the Electoral Act.
Citing overvoting in six local governments, the tribunal declared the All Progressives Congress (APC) winner and upheld the prayer of Oyetola that he polled the majority votes of 314,921 when the overvoting votes cast in six LGAs were deducted from the results earlier declared by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
But in a swift reaction to the judgement, Frank alleged that the majority verdict of the Tribunal was highly compromised.
He called on the NJC and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), to urgently investigate the judges who wrote the majority judgement and prosecute those found to have based their decision on other considerations rather than the true facts canvassed during the hearing of the case.
Frank also called on the United States of America to place a visa ban on the Osun tribunal judges found to have used their highly exalted position as arbiters, to derail and frustrate the growth of democracy in the country.
He commended the judge who wrote the minority judgement for sticking to the truth and siding with the wishes and aspirations of Osun people, who elected Adeleke during the governorship election.
Frank, however, urged the people of Osun to remain calm and law-abiding with the certainty that the mandate they freely gave to Adeleke would be retrieved at the appellate court.
He vowed that Nigerians will not fold their arms and watch any attempt to use the judiciary to again steal Adeleke’s mandate through the backdoor.
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