Osun State Governor Ademola Adeleke has rejected the judgment of the Election Petitions Tribunal which declared his opponent and candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Adegboyega Oyetola, as winner of the July 16 governorship poll in the state.
The governor, who described the judgment as ”a miscarriage of justice”, vowed to challenge the ruling at the Court of Appeal.
The Tribunal hearing Oyetola’s petition against the victory of the People’s Democratic Party’s Adeleke had earlier on Friday annulled the result of the July 16 Osun governorship poll and declared the APC candidate the winner.
But reacting to the judgment, Governor Adeleke faulted the resolution of the over-voting question in favour of Oyetola, saying it was “an unfair interpretation against the will of majority of voters”.
Governor Adeleke, while urging his supporters to remain calm, said he would appeal the judgment at the Court of Appeal, even as he insisted he remains the rightful winner of the July 16 election.
“I call on our people to remain calm. We will appeal the judgment and we are sure justice will be done,” Adeleke said in a reaction from his country home, Ede.
“Let our people be reassured that we will do everything possible to retain this widely acclaimed mandate,” he said.
Recall that Justice Tetsea Kume, while delivering a majority decision of the Election Petitions Tribunal earlier, had declared that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) did not comply substantially with the constitution and the provisions of the Electoral Act.
He subsequently 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.
He then directed INEC to withdraw Adeleke’s certificate of return and issue another one to Oyetola who won a majority of the lawful votes.
