JUDGEMENT DAY: OSUN IS TENSE AS ADELEKE AND OYETOLA LEARN THEIR FATE

Adegboyega Oyetola and Ademola Adeleke

Today, on Friday, a three-member panel of the Appeal Court will render a decision in the legal dispute between Senator Ademola Adeleke, the current governor of Osun State, and Adegboyega Oyetola, his predecessor.

According to reports, the state is becoming more tense and anxious, with supporters of the various interests unsure of which way the judgment would swing.

The Peoples Democratic Party's Adeleke was declared the winner of the governorship election in Osun on July 16, 2022, but the All Progressives Congress's Oyetola immediately challenged the results, alleging that some polling places had received excessively high voter turnout.

On Thursday, the Court of Appeal in Abuja announced that the two parties to the legal dispute would receive a ruling.

Three appeals and a cross-appeal concerning the governorship election were filed, and the Court had reserved judgment in those cases as of March 14.

Ademola Adeleke, the governor of Osun State, his party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), filed substantive appeals against the January 27 ruling of the Osun State Governorship Election Tribunal that declared Adeleke the winner of the election held on July 16, 2022.

The All Progressives Congress (APC) and Adegboyega Oyetola, who was the party's candidate in the election, filed a cross-appeal against a section of the tribunal's ruling.

According to reports, Governor Adeleke was dismissed by the Osun State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal on the grounds that he did not receive the majority of valid votes cast during the state's governorship election on July 16.

Oyetola was able to demonstrate that there was overvoting in some of the polling places, according to two of the tribunal's three members.

In a split decision of two to one, the three-member panel of Justices Tertse Kume, P. Agbuli, and Rabi Bashir formed three issues for resolution, including whether the second respondent, Adeleke, was qualified to run for governor, whether there was a significant lack of compliance, and whether there was excessive voting. Justice Tertse Kume, the panel's chairman, read the majority judgment, which determined that Adeleke was qualified.

The tribunal determined that the election's conduct did not substantially comply with the Electoral Act as amended on the second and third issues.

As stated by the tribunal, "the defences of the respondents are tainted with fundamental flaws, irreconcilable and unreliable, incapable of defeating the credible evidence tendered by the petitioners in respect of the 744 polling units where over voting has been established.

Since Oyetola was duly elected governor of Osun, the majority decision of the tribunal ordered INEC to withdraw the certificate of return issued to Adeleke and issue a new one to Oyetola.

Adeleke, on the other hand, had immediately denounced the verdict and vowed to appeal it.

His initial response was that the following judgment was made: "is an unfair interpretation against the will of the majority of voters. 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."

Adeleke, however, is in front of the appellate court and is pleading with it to reverse the earlier ruling. He is adamant that he received the majority of the votes cast in the governor election.

Oyetota, for his part, had maintained his optimism in the outcome and a potential comeback to the governorship.

Oyetola is contesting the court Tribunal's decision to absolve Adeleke of certificate forgery in the cross-appeal he filed.

Lateef Fagbemi and Akin Olujimi, both SANs, are arguing against the cross-appeal made by Oyetola and the APC.

They contend that the Tribunal erred when it determined that the diploma certificates from Penn Foster High School and Atlanta Metropolitan College are authentic.

"It is in evidence before the Tribunal that Bachelor's Degree in Criminal Justice of the Atlanta Metropolitan College is a four-year full time course, in which fact, the Cross-Appellants pleaded in their petition and was admitted by the 2nd Cross- Respondent.

"It is the law that facts admitted need no further proof and it is a presumption which only the 2nd Cross-Respondent could rebut as regards the factual impossibility of obtaining a Bachelor's Degree within 24 days of obtaining a School Certificate equivalent, thereby casting the onus of proof on him," Oyetola's counsel noted.

At the time of writing, MON DIARIES learned that tension is high in the state, despite the fact that associates and leaders of the PDP and APC are rumored to have traveled to Abuja to watch the verdict be handed down.

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