The supreme court has affirmed the election of Ademola Adeleke as the governor of Osun State.
Delivering judgment on Tuesday, a five-member panel of the apex court held that the court of appeal correctly reinstated Adeleke as governor.
The decision extinguishes Mr. Oyetola’s hopes of returning to office after his momentary victory at the Osun State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal in January.
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had declared Mr. Adeleke of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) as the winner of the election in an upset that deprived Mr. Oyetola of the All Progressives Congress (APC) a second term in office.
Displeased with INEC’s result, Oyetola had approached the election petition tribunal in Osogbo, the state capital, to challenge the outcome of the poll.
The tribunal in its decision ruled in favour of Mr. Oyetola in January by declaring him the winner of the election and sacking Mr. Adeleke, who was just months into office.
However, Mr. Adeleke remained in office to exhaust his right of appeal, and his appeal against the decision of the tribunal was successful. Upholding Mr. Adeleke’s victory, the Court of Appeal in Abuja held that the tribunal was wrong in its conclusion that the election in some parts of the state was marred by over-voting, the pivotal legal issue on which Oyetola built his case.
The Court of Appeal noted that Oyetola and the APC “did not tender the voter registers and Bimodal Voters Accreditation System (BVAS machines),” which captured data of eligible voters at the Osun governorship election. With the Supreme Court’s latest ruling, Adeleke’s victory has been finally affirmed, and he can continue as the governor of Osun State.
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