The Court of Appeal in Abuja on Monday, 13 March 2023 has reserved its judgment on the Osun State governorship appeal filed by Governor Ademola Adeleke.
The appeal filed by Adeleke; a Peoples Democratic Party member is against a judgment of the tribunal which had invalidated his election as governor of Osun State.
Recall that INEC had declared Adeleke, the winner of the election after he scored a total of 403,371 votes, winning in 17 of the 30 local government areas in the state.
But the panel led by Justice Terste Kume, in its judgment, had invalidated the election and declared Mr. Gboyega Oyetola, APC’s candidate as the valid winner of the poll. The tribunal had also ordered INEC to withdraw the Certificate of Return issued to Adeleke and his deputy, Kola Adewusi, and to instead issue the Certificate to Oyetola.
Justice Kume had held that the Osun governorship elections had compromised Nigeria’s Electoral Act, further stating the governorship election was characterized by over-voting.
According to Kume, after deducting the excessive votes, the figure Oyetola polled at the election was 314, 921.
