The Court of Appeal sitting in Abuja on Friday, March 24, 2023 upheld the election of Senator Ademola Adeleke as the governor of Osun state.
The Osun State Election Tribunal had in January this year invalidated Adeleke’s victory at the polls in the State. Senator Adeleke was declared winner of the State governorship election which held on July 16, 2022. Former Governor Gboyega Oyetola, who rejected the result of the election went to the Election Petition Tribunal to contest the results and following his petition, the Tribunal ruled in his favour.
The Court of Appeal has however put a stop to the ruling of the Tribunal as it delivered judgment in the appeal filed by Senator Adeleke on Friday.
Specifically, a three-member panel of Justices of the appellate Court held that the Osun State Election Tribunal erred when it ruled that the 1st and 2nd respondents (Gboyega Oyetola and the All Progressives Congress) proved their allegation of over-voting.
The three-member panel of Justices accordingly held that Adeleke was the duly elected governor of Osun state.
The Osun State Governorship Election Tribunal, in January, held that former Governor Oyetola was able to prove that there was over-voting in some of the polling units.
Accordingly, a two-man majority judgment of the Tribunal ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to withdraw the Certificate of Return issued to Senator Adeleke and issue a fresh one to Oyetola as the duly elected governor of Osun.
However, dissatisfied with the judgement, Senator Adeleke appealed the judgment at the Court of Appeal.
