The Osun State Election Petitions Tribunal sitting in Osogbo, on Friday, nullified the election of Governor Ademola Adeleke of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
The Chairman of the three-man panel, Justice Tertsea Kume, said the July 16, 2022 governorship election did not comply with the Electoral Act.
Tertsea said that there was indeed over voting in six local government areas in the state.
He declared the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the election, Adegboyega Oyetola, as the winner.
The three-man tribunal further declared as
null and void, the declaration of Adeleke as the winner of the election by the Independent Natıonal Electoral Commission (INEC).
It directed INEC to withdraw the Certificate of Return, CoR, issued to Adeleke and also directed the electoral umpire to issue a fresh CoR to Oyetola as the winner of the disputed election.
In August 2022, shortly after the elections, Oyetola, a former governor of Osun State, and the APC had petitioned the tribunal to challenge Adeleke’s victory.
Among several issues raised against Adeleke’s victory, Oyetola contended that there was over-voting in 749 polling units across 10 local government areas of the state.
Delivering its judgement on Friday, the Justice Kume-led panel confirmed that there was over-voting, based on the examination of the BVAS.
The majority judgement, which was read by Justice Kume, said that Oyetola got the majority of lawful votes of 314,931, while Adeleke had 219,666 votes.
