The tribunal consisting of three members started hearing the election petition’s case in August 2022.
The election petition tribunal sitting in Osun State has adjourned for judgment on the governorship election petition before it after counsel to the parties adopted their final addresses.
It was reported that the chairman of the tribunal, Tertsea Kume, on Friday said the adjournment date would be communicated to the parties.
Recall that the All Progressives Congress (APC) and its candidate in the election who is the former governor of the state, Gboyega Oyetola, are challenging the victory of Ademola Adeleke of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
The tribunal consisting of three members started hearing the election petition’s case in August 2022.
In the petition, the main arguments of the petitioners are that Governor Adeleke allegedly forged the academic credentials which he submitted for the election and that there were over-voting in 749 polling units during the election, Premium Times reports.
For over five months, counsel to both parties had argued on the issues surrounding the petitioners’ case and at Friday’s sitting, both parties adopted their final written addresses.
The counsel to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Paul Ananaba, told the tribunal that the petitioners were not accurate with reports of the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) machines.
Ananaba said that the BVAS reports tendered by the petitioners were incomplete because the INEC server had not completed the synchronization process when it was issued to them.
The counsel urged the tribunal to dismiss the petitioners' claims of over-voting using BVAS machines as a basis.
But counsel to the APC, Lateef Fagbemi, said the issue of synchronisation was unknown to the electoral law, adding that analysis of the election results and reports of the BVAS machines showed that there were over-votings in some polling units.
Fagbemi further prayed to the tribunal to reject the respondents’ claim.
On the certificate forgery, counsel to Governor Adeleke, Onyechi Ikpeazu, argued that the forgery claims of the petitioners had not been proven with documentary evidence.
Ikpeazu told the tribunal that the petitioners in their cross-examination ought to have invited someone who attended or worked at the institution that Mr Adeleke claimed to have graduated from in the United States for them to ascertain that he truly graduated.
However, counsel to Oyetola, Akin Olujimi, said the testimonial tendered by Adeleke did not show that he attended Muslim Grammar School in Ede.
According to him, the testimonial was issued in 1988, three years before Osun State came into existence.