The Osun State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal sitting in Osogbo has sacked Governor Ademola Adeleke as the duly elected governor of the state and declared Gboyega Oyetola as the winner of the election.
The tribunal, on Friday in Osogbo, annulled the result declared by the electoral commission (INEC), which gave victory in the 16 June 2022 election to Mr Adeleke of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
The tribunal in a split document of two to one declared that the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, should withdraw the Certificate of Return issued to Adeleke and issue the same to former Governor Adegboyega Oyetola.
The tribunal directed INEC to withdraw the certificate of return issued to Mr Adeleke and his deputy, Kola Adewusi, both of whom had been sworn in.
The panel led by Justice Terste Kume directed that the certificate of return should instead be issued to Mr Oyetola of the All Progressives Congress (APC).
Justice Kume held that the governorship election was not held in compliance with Nigeria’s Electoral Act.
The tribunal held that the governorship election was characterized by over-voting. It said after deducting the excessive votes, the figure Mr Oyetola polled at the election was 314, 921 against Adeleke’s 219,666.
The tribunal, thus, ordered that Mr Oyetola should be returned as governor of Osun State.
The court also held that Adeleke was eligible to contest the poll.
Mr Adeleke had been declared the winner with a total of 403,371 votes. He won in 17 of the 30 Local Government Areas (LGAs) in the state.
Mr Oyetola of the APC won in the remaining 13 LGAs with 375,027 votes. Fifteen candidates contested for the governorship election but it was keenly contested between Mr Adeleke and Mr Oyetola.
He also argued that Mr Adeleke forged the academic credentials he submitted to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to contest for the election.
Mr Adeleke is expected to appeal the ruling of the tribunal and will remain in office pending the final determination of the matter by superior courts as the minority judgement is ongoing.
