Today, THE Court of Appeal in Abuja will issue its ruling on an appeal Governor Ademola Adeleke of Osun State filed to contest the election’s annulment.
Adeleke and the Peoples Democratic Party, his political organization, are pleading with the appellate court to overturn the Osun State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal’s decision to remove him from office.
In a split decision made on January 27 by a three-member panel tribunal headed by Justice Tertsea Kume, Adeleke was declared the loser of the governorship election held on July 16, 2022.
In its majority decision, the tribunal upheld a plea that was submitted by the All Progressives Congress candidate who finished second in the race and former state governor of the state, Gboyega Oyetola.
It was determined that Adeleke did not receive the majority of valid votes, and it was further determined that the election’s administration did not substantially comply with the requirements of the Election Act of 2022.
The petitioners, Oyetola and APC, effectively demonstrated that there was overvoting at 744 polling places in the state, according to the tribunal.
Meanwhile, governor Adeleke appealed the case to the Court of Appeal after objecting to the majority judgment that removed him from office.
Adeleke argued in his 31 grounds of appeal that the decision was invalid because Justice Rabi Bashir, the second member of the panel, did not express her opinion on the petition verbally or in writing; instead, she did nothing more than sign the decision.
He said that without an opinion, “the second member of the lower Tribunal could not have lawfully signed the decision of the chairman of the lower Tribunal.”
