The Court of Appeal in Abuja had ruled that Adeleke of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) was the winner of the Osun State governorship election.
The Osun State Governor, Ademola Adeleke has reacted to the ruling of the Court of Appeal which affirmed him as the winner of the state governorship election in 2022.
The Court of Appeal in Abuja had ruled that Adeleke of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) was the winner of the Osun State governorship election.
At its sitting on Friday, the appellate court nullified the judgement of the election tribunal declaring Gboyega Oyetola of the All Progressives Congress (APC) winner of the election.
Oyetola was declared the winner by the election tribunal after he went to court to challenge the victory of Adeleke, as announced by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
Delivering judgment on January 27, two out of the three-member panel held that the former governor was able to prove that there was over-voting in some of the polling units.
Adeleke had rejected the judgment, describing it as “a miscarriage of justice” and “an unfair interpretation against the will of majority of voters”.
In the 31 grounds of appeal, Adeleke begged the court for “an order setting aside the whole decision of the tribunal”.
He also sought “an order striking out the petition for want of competence and jurisdiction or in the alternative, an order dismissing the petition on the merit”.
The appellate court, in a unanimous decision by a three-member panel of Justices on Friday, held that the appeal the governor lodged to challenge his sacking by the Osun State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal, was meritorious.
Aside from setting aside the judgement of the tribunal, the court, in its lead judgement that was delivered by Justice Mohammed Lawal, awarded N500,000 cost against APC and its candidate, Oyetola.
Reacting to this decision, the state Governor described it as “no victory, no vanquished”.
Speaking shortly after the verdict at his Ede country home, the Governor stated that Osun belongs to everyone, regardless of political or religious affiliation.
He urged members of the opposition party to work with his administration to move the state forward.
He said, “Osun belonged to all of us, irrespective of party affiliation. This is democracy and the beauty of it is healthy competition. So, the judgement for me is a no victor, no vanquished. We should all return to the table and continue the good work of moving Osun forward.”