A former Governor of Osun State, Gboyega Oyetola, has said that the judgement delivered by the Osun Election Petition Tribunal on Friday will give the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) the chance to adjust their anomalies before the February general elections.
It was reported that Osun State Elections Petitions Tribunal had nullified the election of Ademola Adeleke of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and declared Oyetola, governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress in the July 16, 2022, election as the winner of the election.
Among several issues, Oyetola contended that there was over-voting in 749 polling units across 10 local government areas of the state.
The Justice Tetse Kume-led panel in its judgement on Friday said there was over-voting on the examination of BVAS manipulation.
The tribunal declared that the electoral body, INEC should withdraw the Certificate of Return issued to Adeleke and issue the same to Oyetola.
The majority judgement which was read by the Chairman, Justice Kume said Oyetola got the majority of lawful votes of 314,931 while Adeleke had 219,666.
Reacting to this, the APC candidate said the judgement showed that INEC needed to learn and check some anomalies before the general elections.
He tweeted, “The Tribunal judgement delivered yesterday on our petition ushers in a new dawn of a renewed hope and 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.”
Meanwhile, it was also reported that Adeleke said that he would appeal the judgement which he described as a miscarriage of justice.
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