S’Court’s affirmation of Adeleke as gov excites Osun residents
BY ANDREW OROLUA
It was excitement galore on the streets of Osogbo and around the state indeed as the Supreme Court on Tuesday in a unanimous judgment affirmed the election of Osun state Governor Ademola Adeleke and dismissed the appeal filed by former governor of the state Gov.Adegboyega Oyetola for lacking merit.
Oyetola had filed the appeal after the Court of Appeal in Abuja overturned his 2 to 1 split judgment victory at the Osun State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal that decided dispute over the July 16, 2022 Guber election .
Delivering lead judgment Justice Emmanuel Agim resolved the nine issues raised except two against the appellant.
Justice Agim stated that he had considered the issues raised for determination by the appellant whose complaint was that there were over voting in 744 polling Units during the governorship election in Osun State.
Justice Agim said that the appellant did not provide relevant evidence in support of his claim to justify over voting in the governorship.
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Citing provisions of the Electoral Act 2022, the Supreme Court said a petitioner who alleged over voting must tendered Bimodal Verification Accreditation System Machine, BVAS, the Polling Units Voters Register and Form ECA 8 to prove over voting.
Neither didn’t the appellant produce BVAS and the polling Units Voters Register containing the number of voters for each polling Units in which he alleged that the election was marred by non-compliance with the Electoral Act, the apex court said.
The apex court stated that Voters Register of each polling unit was very relevant to the appellant cause and that the need for it was imperative.
The apex court agreed with the decision of the court of Appeal that jettisoned the expert analysis of the election results and it added that the expert did not give an independent analysis.
On issues number two which deal with Gov Adeleke qualification, the supreme court said that the matter has been laid to rest in a Court of Appeal judgment.That judgment said Adeleke was qualified to contest and that he did not forge his certificate. The apex court , therefore, queried the tribunal decision that rejected the judgment of Court of Appeal on Adeleke’s educational qualification.
The Supreme Court however disagreed with the lower court on issue number one which deal with jurisdiction of the Court. It said that the refusal to hear motion challenging jurisdiction of the court amount to nullity of the proceedings, ”because it is a violation of fair trial”.
Recall that Court of Appeal had voided the judgment of the election tribunal which sacked Ademola Adeleke as governor of Osun State and former Gov. Adegboyega Oyetola of the All Progressives Congress APC appealed the judgment.
