Governor Ademola Adeleke of Osun has described the judgment of the Election Petition Tribunal which voided his election, as “a miscarriage of justice.”
Adeleke said he was going to challenge the ruling at the Court of Appeal.
He declared that he remained the rightful winner of the July 16, 2022 governorship election.
The Tribunal presided over by Justice Tertse Kume earlier on Friday, January 27 sacked Adeleke as Osun State Governor.
In a split judgement of 2:1, the tribunal ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to withdraw the Certificate of Return issued to Adeleke.
The tribunal directed INEC to issue the certificate of return to Oyetola.
The tribunal sacked Adeleke for overvoting in some polling units across the State.
Justice Tertse held that after deduction of over-voting, Oyetola polled 314,921 votes against Adeleke’s 290,266.
Reacting to the verdict of the Tribunal, Governor Adeleke faulted the resolution of the over-voting question in favour of former Governor Gboyega Oyetola, calling it “an unfair interpretation against the will of a majority of voters.”
Adeleke urged his supporters to remain calm.
“I call on our people to remain calm. We will appeal the judgment 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 declared in a statement issued by his spokesperson, Olawale Rasheed.
