The Supreme Court on Tuesday, ruled in favour of Governor Ademola Adeleke of Osun state. The apex court ruled that “Adeleke ought not to have even defended any of the allegations of Oyetola because they are based on hear say.”
On the APC and Oyetola’s witness, it added that “he has no personal knowledge of the case. He was not present in any of the polling units. His entire testimony in the case is incurable inadmissible”
Unsatisfied with INEC’s result, Mr Oyetola had approached the election petition tribunal in Osogbo, the state capital, to challenge the outcome of the poll in 2022.
The election which was won by Adeleke, was later ruled out by the Osun gubernatorial election tribunal. The tribunal in its decison in January ruled in favour of Mr Oyetola by declaring him the winner of the election, and sacking Mr Adeleke who was just months in office.
It held that Adeleke did not score the majority of lawful votes, adding that the conduct of the election was not in substantial compliance with provisions of the Electoral Act, 2022.
According to the tribunal, the petitioners, Oyetola and APC, successfully established that there was overvoting in 744 polling units in the state. After deducting the said invalid votes, the tribunal declared Oyetola as the winner of the governorship contest.
However,an appeal was lodged by Adeleke and the PDP at the Court of Appeal, on March 24, which reversed the judgment of the tribunal. The appellate court, in a unanimous decision by a three-member panel of Justices, held that there was merit in Adeleke’s appeal.
