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Akinwande Soji-Ojo
The Supreme Court has fixed Tuesday, May 9, to deliver judgement on the July 16 governorship election tussle in Osun State.
A five-member panel of Justices led by Justice John Okoro, made the announcement after all the parties involved adopted their final addresses, on Monday.
The Court of Appeal, Abuja Division, had set aside the decision of the Osun State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal, which nullified the election of Senator Ademola Adeleke as governor of Osun State.
Consequently, the Appellate Court affirmed Adeleke as the winner of the July 16, governorship election in the state.
A three-member panel of the appellate court led by Mohammed Shuaibu had unanimously overturned the earlier decision of the election petition tribunal which nullified the governor’s victory in January.
The Osun State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal in Osogbo, which upheld the allegation of over-voting in the areas won by Adeleke, had declared Oyetola of the All Progressives Congress (APC) the winner of the poll after deducting unlawful votes from the PDP candidate’s total votes.
But Adeleke appealed the lower court’s decision, urging the appellate court to set it aside and affirm his victory.
Upholding Adeleke’s victory, the Court of Appeal held that the tribunal was wrong to reach the conclusion that there was over-voting during the governorship election.
Shuaibu, who prepared and read the judgement, said the burden of proving the allegations of over-voting lies squarely with Oyetola and the APC.
“It is inconceivable to assume that the testimonies of the respondents’ witnesses had any probative value,” the appellate court held.