ABUJA–Tuesday has been set aside by the Supreme Court for the Supreme Court to rule on an appeal to remove Osun State Governor Ademola Adeleke from office.
To resolve the legal dispute surrounding the governorship election that took place in the state on July 16, 2022, a five-judge panel of the supreme court adjourned.
The declaration of Adeleke of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, as the winner of the gubernatorial election was thrown out by the Osun State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal on January 27 in a split decision.
The petition was presented to the tribunal by the former governor of the state, Adegboyega Oyetola of the All Progressives Congress, APC, who finished second in the election. The petition was upheld by the three-member panel tribunal under the leadership of Justice Tertsea Kume.
It was determined that Adeleke did not receive the majority of valid votes, and it was further determined that the election’s administration did not substantially comply with the requirements of the Electoral Act of 2022.
The petitioners, Oyetola and APC, successfully demonstrated that there was excessive voting in 744 polling places in the state, according to the tribunal.
The tribunal declared Oyetola the victor of the governorship election after subtracting the aforementioned invalid votes, but it also ordered the INEC to revoke Adeleke’s earlier Certificate of Return.
Although he dismissed the petition filed by Oyetola and the APC, Justice P. Ogbuli, the third member of the panel, declared Adeleke to be the legitimate winner of the election in his dissenting opinion.
On March 24, the Court of Appeal overturned the tribunal’s decision in response to an appeal that was filed by Adeleke and the PDP.
The appellate court determined that Adeleke’s appeal had merit in a unanimous decision by a three-member panel of Justices.
In addition to reversing the tribunal’s decision, the court awarded the APC and its candidate, Gboyega Oyetola, costs in the amount of N500,000 in its lead judgment, which was delivered by Justice Mohammed Shuaibu.
When Oyetola and the APC appealed the ruling because they were unhappy with it, the Supreme Court decided to postpone its decision until all parties had adopted their final briefs of argument.
