Osun Tribunal: Do not resort to self-help — Oyetola tells Adeleke, PDP

Gboyega Oyetola, the winner of the July 16th 2022 governorship polls, as declared by the Osun State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal, has reacted to the judgement sacking Ademola Adeleke of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) as governor of the state.

The All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate on the election, Oyetola, in a press statement on Saturday appealed to Adeleke and “members of the PDP not to resort to self-help, instead allow the judicial process to run its full course”.

The statement reads; “The Tribunal judgement delivered yesterday on our petition ushers in a new dawn of a renewed hope & recovery for Osun State. I see it as a no victor & no vanquished situation for our party members, but rather a collective victory for the people of Osun and Nigeria’s democracy.

“I’m happy that the Tribunal has been able to lay to rest the controversy over the real winner of the July 16 Osun Governorship election. INEC would no doubt be the greatest beneficiary of this ruling, as it would help it correct some of the anomalies that have been pointed out through the ruling, a thing that was our motivation in the first instance. Like I have always emphasised , our decision to approach the Tribunal was not to impugn on the integrity of INEC, but to help deepen our electoral system and our democracy.

“I salute our party faithful & Osun Citizens who stood firm to weather the storm for their courage and loyalty. With this victory, we’ve become more energised to redouble our efforts towards ensuring victory for our presidential candidate & all our National Assembly candidates including all the State House of Assembly candidates in the February and March elections respectively.

“I thank our legal team for a diligent job, just as I also thank the Tribunal for doing justice to our petition.

“I call on our party members & supporters not to react to any form of provocation from any quarter. Let’s continue to remain calm, peaceful & law-abiding. Equally, I appeal to members of the PDP not to resort to self-help, instead allow the judicial process to run its full course.”

NewsWireNGR reports that the Osun State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal sitting in Osogbo on Friday upturned the victory of Governor Ademola Adeleke at the July 16th 2022, governorship polls.

The tribunal in a split document of two to one declared that the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, should withdraw the Certificate of Return issued to Adeleke and issue the same to former Governor Adegboyega Oyetola.

The majority judgement which was read by the Chairman, Justice Tertse Kume stated that the conduct of the election was not in compliance with the electoral act.

He subsequently deducted the over-voting observed from the votes scored by the candidates and declared that Oyetola won the election, having polled 314, 921, while Adeleke’s score came down to 290, 266.

Meanwhile, Adeleke has described the judgement of the governorship tribunal as ” a miscarriage of justice”, vowing to challenge the ruling at the Court of Appeal.

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 majority of voters”.
While urging his supporters to remain calm, Governor Adeleke vowed to appeal the judgement at the Court of Appeal, insisting he remains the rightful winner of the July 16 election.

“I call on our people to remain calm. We will appeal the judgement 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”, Governor Adeleke declared.