INEC also asked the court to dismiss the petition filed by the All Progressives Congress (APC) and its candidate for governor of Osun in 2022, Adegboyega Oyetola, as lacking merit.
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has appealed the judgement of the Osun State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal that declared Adegboyega Oyetola as the duly elected governor of the state in the July 16, 2022 election.
The Tribunal which was led by Justice Tertsea Kume earlier nullified Governor Ademola Adeleke’s victory and declared Oyetola as the duly elected governor at the poll in its judgement of January 27, 2023 on the ground of over-voting.
However, in a Notice of Appeal dated January 30, 2023, filed before the Court of Appeal, Akure Division, Ondo State, and obtained by SaharaReporters, the electoral body listed 44 grounds of appeal and urged the appellate court to set aside the judgement of the Tribunal.
In the Notice of Appeal, INEC is the Appellant while Gboyega Oyetola, APC, Ademola Adeleke and Peoples Democratic Party are listed are the 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th Respondents respectively.
INEC also asked the court to dismiss the petition filed by the All Progressives Congress (APC) and its candidate for governor of Osun in 2022, Adegboyega Oyetola, as lacking merit.
In a court document filed by INEC, the Commission challenged the decision of the Tribunal on the grounds that the panel erred in law by claiming that Adeleke did not score the majority of the lawful votes, saying the petitioners only called two witnesses, who did not prove that the PDP candidate did not win the election.
The other reliefs sought by INEC include: “b. AN ORDER setting aside the whole decision of the trial Tribunal; C. An Order dismissing and/or striking out the Petition for want of competence and jurisdiction.”
The Grounds of Appeal read in part, “ERROR IN LAW: The lower Tribunal erred in law when they failed to consider and rule on the various preliminary objections filed by the 1st Respondent/Appellant challenging the competency of the petition and jurisdiction of the Election Petition Tribunal to hear the Petition but proceeded to determine the merit of the Petition. PARTICULARS OF ERROR
“i.It is trite law that preliminary objections that touch on the competency of the petition and the jurisdiction of the Tribunal is a threshold issue which must be determined before the Tribunal can assume jurisdiction to determine the merit of the Petition.
“ii. The preliminary objections filed by the 1st Respondent/ Appellant were adjourned to be delivered alongside the judgment on the Petition.
“iii.The Honourable Tribunal ought to determine the preliminary objections of the 1st Respondent before going into the merit of the Petition.
“iv .Failure of the Tribunal to consider and deciding the preliminary objections the 1st Respondent/Appellant amounts to a denial of fair hearing and occasioned a miscarriage of justice as the objections would have terminated the life of the Petition in limine.
“GROUND TWO, ERROR IN LAW: The judgment delivered by the lower Tribunal for the conduct of the Osun state Governorship Election Petition Tribunal sitting at Osogbo on Friday the 27th day of January, 2023 is a nullity.”
It listed the particulars of error under the ground as: “i.The judgment is not a complete judgment of the said Election Petition.
“ii. Tribunal Member 2 was one of the members of the said Tribunal who heard the Petition but did not reduce her judgment or opinion in writing capable of being delivered on the day fixed for the delivery of the judgment.
“iii. Each of the members of the Tribunal must express his/her opinion in writing.
“iv.The judgment is a breach of Section 294 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended).
“v. The Judgment delivered by HON. TERTSEA AORGA KUME J., was jointly signed on the last page of the judgment by the Tribunal Member 2 RABI BASHIR (Chief Magistrate).
“vi.Section 294 (1) and (2) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria does not admit of joint judgments.
“vii.The judgment of the Tribunal herein is incurably a nullity for being in breach of the said Section 294 (1) and (2) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.”