The Osun State Governor, Ademola Adeleke, has rejected the judgement of the Election Petition Tribunal that sacked him from office.
Justice Tetsea Kume-led panel on Friday sacked Adeleke and declared Gboyega Oyetola of the All Progressives Congress as the winner of the July 16, 2022 governorship election.
The judge ruled that the electoral body, the Independent National Electoral Commission, did not follow the constitution and the provisions of the Electoral Act substantially.
He then subtracted the observed over-voting from the votes cast for the candidates and declared that Oyetola had won the election with 314, 921 votes, while Adeleke received 290, 266.
He directed INEC to revoke Adeleke’s certificate of return and issue a new one to Oyetola, who received a majority of valid votes.
Reacting to the verdict of the tribunal from his country home in Ede, the governor faulted the resolution of the over-voting question in favour of his predecessor, calling it “an unfair interpretation against the will of majority of voters”.
While urging his supporters to remain calm, Adeleke promised to appeal the decision to the Court of Appeal, claiming that he had won the July 16 election.
“I call on our people to remain calm. We will appeal the judgement and we are sure justice will be done. Let our people be reassured that we will do everything possible to retain this widely acclaimed mandate,” the governor said in a statement signed by his spokesman, Olawale Rasheed, on Friday.