The Osun State Governorship Election Petitions Tribunal has declared the candidate of the All Progressives Congress, APC, in the July 17, 2022 governorship election in the state, Adegboyega Oyetola, as the winner.
The three-man tribunal, which delivered the judgment on Friday, further declared the declaration of of the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Senator Ademola Adeleke, as the winner of the election by the Independent Natıonal Electoral Commission, INEC, as winner of the election null and void.
Before announcing the sack of Governor Adeleke, the chairman of the election petitions tribunal, Justice Tetse Kume, stated that the electoral umpire, INEC, did not comply substantially with the provisions of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) as amended and the provisions of the Electoral Act, 2022 (as amended).
After the court subtracted the identified over-voting from the total votes PDP’s Governor Adeleke was left with 290,266 votes as against the initial 403,371 votes declared by INEC, and which gave him victory earlier, while Oyetola, who polled 375,027 votes in the election, now has 314,921 votes.
It directed INEC to withdraw the Certificate of Return, CoR, issued to Adeleke and also directed the electoral umpire to issue a fresh CoR to Oyetola as the winner of the disputed election.
In August 2022, shortly after the elections, Oyetola, a former governor of Osun State, and the APC had petitioned the tribunal to challenge Adeleke’s victory.
Among several issues raised against Adeleke’s victory, Oyetola contended that there was over-voting in 749 polling units across 10 local government areas of the state.
Delivering its judgment on Friday, the Justice Tetse Kume-led panel confirmed that there was over-voting, based on the examination of the BVAS.
