Adeleke defeats Oyetola, as Appeal Court upholds his election as Osun Governor

The Court of Appeal sitting in Abuja has affirmed the election of Governor Ademola Adeleke of Osun.

The appelate court set aside the verdict of the Osun State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal, which sacked him from office.

INEC had, on July 17, 2022, declared Adeleke the winner of the governorship election conducted on July 16, 2022 after polling a total of 403,371 votes.

He was said to have won in 17 of the 30 local government areas in the state.

But Oyetola and his party, the APC, approached the court to challenge the victory on the grounds that there was over-voting and that Adeleke was not eligible to run at the time.

The Osun State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal had, on Jan. 27, voided the July 16, 2022 election that produced Adeleke of PDP as the elected governor.

The panel led by Justice Kume, in its judgment, invalidated the election and declared Mr Gboyega Oyetola of APC as the valid winner of the poll.

The tribunal directed INEC to withdraw the certificate of return issued to Adeleke and his deputy, Kola Adewusi, both of whom had been sworn in.

It, however, directed that the certificate of return should instead be issued to Oyetola.

Justice Kume held that the governorship election was not held in compliance with Nigeria’s Electoral Act.

The tribunal also held that the governorship election was characterized by over-voting.

The tribunal, thus, ordered that Oyetola should be returned as governor of Osun State.