Justice Tetsea Kume-led panel on Friday sacked Adeleke and declared Gboyega Oyetola of the All Progressives Congress as the winner of the July 16, 2022 governorship election.
The Osun State Governor, Ademola Adeleke, has rejected the judgement of the Election Petition Tribunal that sacked him from office.
Justice Tetsea Kume-led panel on Friday sacked Adeleke and declared Gboyega Oyetola of the All Progressives Congress as the winner of the July 16, 2022 governorship election.
The judge ruled that the electoral body, Independent National Electoral Commission 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 directed INEC to withdraw Adeleke’s certificate of return and issue another one to Oyetola who won a majority of the lawful votes.
Reacting to the verdict of the tribunal from his country home in Ede, the governor faulted the resolution of the over-voting question in favour of his predecessor, calling it “an unfair interpretation against the will of majority of voters”.
While urging his supporters to remain calm, 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,” the governor said in a statement signed by his spokesman, Olawale Rasheed, on Friday.