The Court of Appeal sitting in Abuja will today deliver judgment in the legal battle between the Osun State chapters of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the All Progressives Congress (APC) over the state’s governorship tussle between the Governor, Senator Ademola Adeleke and and former governor Adegboyega Oyetola.
TheNewsGuru.com reports that the Independent National Electoral Commission ( INEC) had returned Senator Ademola Adeleke of the PDP as the winner of the July 16 2022 poll.
According to INEC, Adeleke polled 403,371 votes, to defeat the then incumbent Governor Adegboyega Oyetola of the APC, who got 375,027 votes.
However, Oyetola and his party the APC rejected the result and contested it at the Tribunal.
In its January 27, 2023 majority verdict, the Justice Tertse Kume-led tribunal annulled Adeleke’s victory and declared Oyetola the winner of the poll.
The tribunal cited reasons of over voting in some areas as the reason ,
Not pleased with the judgment, Adeleke and the PDP headed for the Court of Appeal.
The Court of Appeal heard the appeal on March 13 and reserved its judgment.
A member of Oyetola and APC legal team, Mr. Muhydeen Adeoye, inform pressmen on Thursday that the Court of Appeal had notified the parties that the judgment would be delivered today.
Speaking on the expectations of the party, Osun PDP Director of Media, Oladele Olabamiji, said his party was hopeful that the Court of Appeal would restore Adeleke’s victory.
He said, “We are expecting justice for the electorate in Osun, who collectively voted for the state governor, Senator Ademola Adeleke. We expect justice in line with the weight of evidence presented before the court.”
Also, the spokesperson for the Osun APC, Mr. Kola Olabisi, also expressed optimism that the party would come out in flying colours.
“We are optimistic that we are going to come out in flying colours because of our iron-cast evidence before the court,” Olabisi said.
Meanwhile, a statement by the acting Public Relations Officer of the Command, Kehinde Adeleke, said, “Ahead of Friday’s Appeal Court judgment on the matter between Governor Ademola Adeleke and Alhaji Adegboyega Oyetola; there is strategic deployment of personnel around critical infrastructure in the state.
“There will also be patrol by armed detachment of the corps in readiness for emergency response. The command is ready to prevent any breakdown of law and order arising from possible protests by aggrieved parties.”
