Tribunal Sacks Adeleke, Declares Oyetola Winner Of July 18, Governorship Poll
Governor Ademola Adeleke of Osun State has been sacked by the state governorship election petition tribunal. The tribunal ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to withdraw the certificate of return from the governor, and issue it to former governor Gboyega Oyetola of APC.
Justice Tetsea Kume cancelled the results of the July 18, 2022 governorship poll, in a majority decision of the four member tribunal on Friday in Osogbo.
Two members of the panel upheld the poll results, while two rejected the results.
Justice Kume, reading the majority decision ruled that the conduct of the July 18, 2022 poll, did not comply with the provisions of the electoral act.
The tribunal after deducting the over-voting observed from votes recorded from the entire results of the poll, declared Oyetola as the winner of the poll.
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According to the tribunal, Oyetola of the APC scored 314,921 votes against 290,266 for governor Adeleke, after the deduction of results of the areas where over-voting was observed.
The tribunal, thus, ordered that Mr Oyetola should be returned as governor of Osun State, 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.
In his petition, Mr Oyetola, the immediate past governor of the state, claimed that the election was characterized by over-voting in 749 polling units.
He also argued that Mr Adeleke forged the academic credentials he submitted to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to contest for the election.
