Oyetola vs Adeleke: Supreme Court to deliver judgment Tuesday

The Supreme Court on Monday fixed Tuesday to deliver judgment in the July 16 Osun governorship election.

A five-member panel of Justices led by Justice John Okoro fixed the after all the parties involved adopted their written briefs in the matter after.

The Abuja Division of the Court of Appeal had set aside the Osun governorship election petition tribunal’s judgment, nullifying Ademola Adeleke’s election as the governor.

Consequently, the appellate court affirmed Mr Adeleke as the election winner.

A three-member panel of the appellate court led by Justice Mohammed Shuaibu had unanimously overturned the election petition tribunal’s earlier decision, nullifying the governor’s victory in January.

Ex-Governor Adegboyega Oyetola, who came second in the disputed poll, had filed a petition challenging Mr Adeleke’s victory.

The tribunal, which upheld the allegation of over-voting in the areas won by Mr Adeleke, had declared Mr Oyetola of the All Progressives Congress (APC) the poll winner after deducting unlawful votes from the PDP’s scores.

But Mr Adeleke appealed against the lower court’s ruling, urging the appellate court to set it aside and re-affirm his victory.

Upholding Mr Adeleke’s victory, the court of appeal held that the tribunal was wrong to conclude that there was over-voting during the election.

Mr Shuaibu, who prepared and read the lead decision, said the burden of proving the allegations of over-voting lies squarely with Mr Oyetola and the APC.

“It is inconceivable to assume that the testimonies of the respondents’ witnesses had any probative value,” the appellate court held.