Supreme Court Affirms Adeleke As Osun Governor

The Supreme Court has affirmed the victory of Governor Ademola Adeleke as the winner of the July 16, 2022 governorship election in the State of Osun.

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Delivering the lead judgment in Abuja on Tuesday, Justice Agim, a member of the five man panel held that issues 3, 4, 5 and 9 of the petition of former Governor, Adegboyega Oyetola lacked merit.

In a unanimous judgment, the five-man panel established that Oyetola failed to prove over-voting in his petition, noting the BVAS machines are the basis for proving over-voting.

The court also held that Register of Voters is very cardinal to the process of accreditation and as such, over-voting cannot be proved without it.

The justices noted that Principal Witness 1 presented by the appellants as an expert relied on hearsay evidence, and his opinion is therefore not admissible and ruled that as such, the appellants did not discharge the burden of proof placed on them by the law.

The Court said that Adeleke’s qualification is settled and no case of forgery is established against him, stressing that the election petition tribunal breached the Governor’s rights to fair hearing and its decision is thus a nullity.

The Supreme Court thereafter dismissed the appeal of the APC and Oyetola for lack of merit, and affirmed the victory of Governor Ademola Adeleke in the July 16, 2022 governorship election.

All the five justices of the Supreme Court led by Justice John Iyang Okoro endorsed the verdict.