Why Tribunal Sacked Adeleke, Declares Oyetola As Osun Gov

The Osun Election Petitions Tribunal removed Governor Ademola Adeleke from office on Friday, painfully ending his administration of Osun State. Only 62 days were left of his term in office.

The tribunal ruled that the Independent National Electoral Commission did not adhere to the terms of the Federal Republic of Nigeria’s Constitution as well as the Electoral Act as modified, thus invalidating the results of the Osun governorship election on July 16.

READ ALSO: BREAKING: Tribunal Sacks Adeleke As Osun Governor

The Peoples Democratic Party’s nominee for governor, Adeleke, was proclaimed the victor of the July 16 election by the Independent National Electoral Commission.

Prof. Oluwatoyin Ogundipe, the University of Lagos’ Vice-Chancellor and the election’s returning officer, declared that Adeleke had received a total of 403,371 votes, defeating APC’s Adegboyega Oyetola, the current governor, who had received 375,027 votes in the hotly contested race.

The PDP won 17 of Osun’s 30 local government areas (LGAs) in the 3,763 voting units that made up the election, while the APC received more votes in the other 13 LGAs. Atakumosa West, Olorunda, Ilesa West, Obokun, Oriade, Orolu, Ife North, Irepodun, and Ejigbo LGAs were won by the PDP in addition to Ede North and Ede South.

Ayedire, Ifedayo, Ife Central, Ayedaade, Iwo, Olaoluwa, Isokan, Atakumosa East, Irewole, Ife South, and Ife East LGAs were won by the APC, in contrast. A total of 1,479,595 Permanent Voter Cards were gathered before to the election out of the 1,955,657 registered voters in the state.

With Adeleke’s victory, the number of PDP-ruled states increased to 14, while the number of APC-ruled states decreased to 21.

Adeleke, who is famed for his dancing prowess and is affectionately known as the “Dancing Senator,” had reason to hope, but that dream was destroyed on Friday when the tribunal invalidated the outcome of the governorship election held on July 16.

Justice Tetsea Kume concluded that INEC did not significantly abide by the rules of the Electoral Act and the constitution while issuing a majority decision vote.

He then subtracted the observed overvoting from the votes received by the candidates, declaring Oyetola the victor with a total of 314, 921 votes to Adeleke’s 290, 266.

Having secured the majority of the valid votes, he instructed INEC to revoke Adeleke’s certificate of return and issue a new one to Oyetola.