The Tribunal’s Reasoning for Firing Adeleke

The State Election Petition Tribunal has removed People’s Democratic Party (PDP) candidate Ademola Adeleke from his position as governor of Osun.. It declared Gboyega Oyetola, candidate of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), the winner of the July 16, 2022, Osun governorship poll.

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But Adeleke has rejected the outcome, vowing to proceed to the appeals court. Justice Tetsea Kume delivered a majority decision and declared that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) “did not comply substantially with the Constitution and the provisions of the Electoral Act.”

Thus, by the time Kume deducted the over-voting observed from the votes scored by the candidates, he declared Oyetola the winner.

This is because he polled 314, 921, as against Adeleke’s 290, 266.

The judge directed INEC to withdraw Adeleke’s certificate of return. Another was issued for Oyetola, who won a majority of the lawful votes.

On July 17, 2022, INEC declared Adeleke the winner of the Osun State governorship election. He won 17 of the 30 local government areas (LGAs) in the Osun State governorship election.

Oyetola won with the remaining 13. Oyetola scored 375,027 votes, while Adeleke claimed 403,371 votes. The margin was about 44,426 votes.

However, Adeleke rejected the verdict, describing it as “a miscarriage of justice.” He vowed to challenge the ruling at the Court of Appeals.

In a statement issued by his spokesperson, Rasheed Olawale, Governor Adeleke faulted the resolution of the over-voting question in favour of Mr. Oyetola, calling it “an unfair interpretation against the will of the majority of voters.”

I call on our people to remain calm. We will appeal the judgment, 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.”Disputes of this nature at the sub-national level are now being dragged to the Supreme Court under the new electoral law.