Osun guber: Appeal court to determine Adeleke’s fate Friday

The court of appeal in Abuja has fixed Friday to deliver judgement in an appeal by Ademola Adeleke seeking to affirm his election as Osun state governor.

The court had reserved judgment after hearing submissions in the suit on March 13.

In the appeal marked CA/AK/EPT/GOV/01/2023, Adeleke is the appellant while Gboyega Oyetola and the All Progressives Congress (APC) are first and second respondents.

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and the PDP are also joined as the third and fourth respondents in the suit.

In a judgment delivered on January 27, the Osun governorship petition tribunal sacked Adeleke and affirmed Oyetola as the duly elected governor of the state.

Two of the three-member panel held that Oyetola was able to prove that there was over-voting in some of the polling units.

Adeleke had rejected the judgment, describing it as “a miscarriage of justice” and “an unfair interpretation against the will of majority of voters”.

In the 31 grounds of appeal, Adeleke is praying the court for “an order setting aside the whole decision of the tribunal”.

He is also seeking “an order striking out the petition for want of competence and jurisdiction or in the alternative, an order dismissing the petition on the merit”.

Adeleke submitted that the tribunal exhibited bias when it said: “The second respondent cannot ‘go lo lo lo lo’ and ‘buga won’ as the duly elected governor of Osun state.”