Judgment Day: Tension in Osun as Adeleke and Oyetola meet fate

A 3-man panel of the Court of Appeal will deliver judgment today, Friday, in the legal battle between Osun State Governor, Senator Ademola Adeleke and his predecessor, Adegboyega Oyetola.< /p>

DAILY POST reports that tension and anxiety are building in the state, with supporters of diverse interests unsure of the pendulum the judgment would swing.

Adeleke of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, was declared the winner of the July 16, 2022 gubernatorial election in Osun, but his victory was immediately contested by the Oyetola of the All Progressives Congress, APC, who alleged over-voting at some polling stations.

The Abuja Court of Appeal announced on Thursday that a judgment in the legal battle would be rendered for the two warring parties.

As of March 14, the Court reserved judgment in three appeals and one cross-appeal filed in the gubernatorial election dispute.

The substantive appeals, filed by Osun State Governor Ademola Adeleke, his party, the People's Democratic Party (PDP), and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), are against the judgment of 27 January from the Osun State Governor's Election Tribunal, which overturned Adeleke's victory in the July 16, 2022 elections.

The cross-appeal, filed jointly by the All Progressives Congress (APC) and its candidate for election, Adegboyega Oyetola, is against part of the court's judgment.

DAILY POST reports that the Osun State Governor Election Petition Court dismissed Governor Adeleke on the grounds that he failed to obtain a majority of the legal votes cast in the election Governor's July 16 in the State.

Two of the three court panel members felt that Oyetola could prove that there had indeed been overvoting in certain voting units.

The three-man panel, comprising Judges Tertse Kume, P. Agbuli and Rabi Bashir, in a two-to-one split judgment, formed three questions to be resolved, including whether the second defendant, Adeleke, qualified to contest the office of governor, if there has been substantial non-compliance and if there has been an overvote. The majority judgment read by Judge Tertse Kume, chairman of the panel, resolved the qualification issue in favor of Adeleke and held that "at the time of the election, he is duly qualified to contest".

On the second and third issues, the court found that the conduct of the election did not substantially comply with the electoral law as amended.

According to the court, "the defendants' defenses are fundamentally flawed, irreconcilable and unreliable, incapable of defeating the credible evidence presented by the petitioners regarding the 744 polling stations where over-voting was established.< /p>

As a result, the majority judgment of the court ordered the INEC to withdraw the return certificate issued to Adeleke and issue a new one to Oyetola as the duly elected governor of Osun.

However, Adeleke immediately condemned the judgment, promising to challenge it in the Court of Appeal.

His immediate reaction then was that the judgment: "is an unjust interpretation against the will of the majority of the voters. I call on our people to remain calm. We will appeal the judgment and we are sure that justice will be served Let our people be reassured that we will do everything possible to maintain this widely acclaimed mandate.”

However, Adeleke is before the Court of Appeal, asking it to overturn the previous judgment. He insists he won the majority of votes cast in guber polls.

For his part, Oyetota had remained optimistic about victory and an eventual return to the seat of governor.

In the cross-appeal he filed, Oyetola challenges the court's verdict that cleared Adeleke of certificate forgery.

The cross-appeal by Oyetola and APC is defended by Lateef Fagbemi, SAN, and Akin Olujimi, SAN.

They argue that the Court erred in finding that the certificate from Atlanta Metropolitan College and a certificate of graduation from Penn Foster High School were genuine.

"There is evidence before the Court that the Atlanta Metropolitan College bachelor's degree in criminal justice is a full-time four-year course, in which fact the counter-appellants pleaded in their motion and were admitted by the 2nd Cross -Respondent.

"It is the law that admitted facts no longer need to be proven and it is a presumption that only the 2nd Cross Respondent could reverse as to the factual impossibility of obtaining a Bachelor's Degree in within 24 days of obtaining an equivalent School Certificate, thereby placing the burden of proof on him,” noted Oyetola’s lawyer.

At the time of this report, DAILY POST understood that tension was high in the state, even as PDP and APC leaders and associates reportedly arrived in Abuja to witness the delivery ...