The tribunal on Friday nullified the election of Adeleke of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and declared Gboyega Oyetola, governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress in the July 16, 2022 election as the winner of the election.
The All Progressives Congress (APC) has reacted to the sacking of Governor Ademola Adeleke by the Osun State Elections Petitions Tribunal.
The tribunal on Friday nullified the election of Adeleke of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and declared Gboyega Oyetola, governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress in the July 16, 2022 election as the winner of the election.
Justice Tetse Kume-led panel in its judgement on Friday said there was overvoting on the examination of BVAS manipulation.
The tribunal declared that the electoral body, Independent National Electoral Commission should withdraw the Certificate of Return issued to Adeleke and issue the same to Oyetola.
The majority judgement which was read by the Chairman, Justice Kume said Oyetola got the majority of lawful votes of 314,931 while Adeleke had 219,666.
Meanwhile, Adeleke described the judgement of the governorship tribunal as " a miscarriage of justice", vowing to challenge the ruling at the Court of Appeal.
Reacting to the verdict of the tribunal from his country home in Ede, Adeleke faulted the resolution of the over-voting question in favour of Mr Oyetola, calling it " an unfair interpretation against the will of majority of voters"
While urging his supporters to remain calm, Governor Adeleke vowed to appeal the judgement at the Court of Appeal, insisting that he won the July 16 election.
"I call on our people to remain calm. We will appeal the judgement and we are sure justice will be done. Let our people be reassured that we will do everything possible to retain this widely acclaimed mandate," Governor Adeleke said.
However, Mr. Felix Morka, APC National Publicity Secretary while speaking with SaharaReporters on Friday expressed confidence that Adeleke and the PDP will also lose in the Court of Appeal.
He noted that the Electoral Act is very clear, adding that the facts have been set straight by the tribunal.
He said, "We are very delighted that the facts have been set straight by the tribunal. We are happy with the outcome of the long trial.
"We are confident that if Adeleke and PDP decide to appeal, they will lose because the Electoral Act is very clear.”
"There are certain rules that govern our elections, so when you engage in malpractice and record more votes where you should not, you have to be held accountable and that is what the tribunal just did," he told SaharaReporters.