Adeleke: Uncertainty in Osun over tribunal’s ruling

Olusesan Laoye 

An atmosphere of uncertainty and palpable fear now pervade Osun state, over the ruling of the Election Petition Tribunal, which nullified the results that  brought the  incumbent governor,  Senator Ademola Adeleke, of the Peoples Democratic  party (PDP), to power and declared the  immediate past governor, of tthe All Progressive Congress (APC ) Mr. Gboyega Oyetola as the winner.

The Tribunal in  its majority ruling   declared by the Chairman, said that it accepted the  representations of the plaintiffs, Oyetola and the APC, which challenged  the victory of Adeleke, that there  was indeed over voting in some polling units, which increased the votes of Adeleke and as such, the excess votes were deducted and having done that,  Oyetola came up with the highest votes.

According to the chairman of the tribunal, Justice Tetsea Kume,  with the deduction made, Oyetola scored 314, 931 against  the new votes of Adeleke of 290, 266.
He then asked INEC to withdraw   the certificate of  return issued to Adelekle and  hand over same to Oyetola.

The chairman  of the tribunal  also pointed out that the witnesses  called by both parties, admitted over voting and   based on that, Adeleke’s  election was not  in compliance with  the  law.

Though Adeleke in a swift  reaction to the verdict, said he would go on appeal and as such, he still remains the governor of the people. He faulted   the majority judgment,  saying, that  it did not reflect the decisions of  the third member, who was said to have supported the  chairman’s  lone judgment.

He described the verdict as a miscarriage of justice and faulted the premise of over voting  in favour of Oyetola.  He urged the people of the state  to remain calm.

Despite the  assurance given to the people, tension is still very high in Osun State, as  the  people are now confused with the tribunal judgment, which has brought mixed reactions  and feelings .

It was observed that the majority of the people across the state are not happy with the Tribunal verdict  and  are confused about what would happen afterwards.

Some people envisage a volatile  situation and believed that the verdict  could bring disorder among the supporters of Oyetola  of the APC and that of Governor Adeleke of the PDP.

What is, however serving as consolation to  the people, is the fact that Adeleke  has called for calm and has assured them that he would appeal against the judgment,  and that he still remains  the governor of the state, pending the outcome of the appeal, which he claimed would restore his mandate the people  of Osun state unanimously gave to him and, which  the APC wanted to steal again, through the back door  as they did in 2018.

What has actually heightened the fear and the anxiety,  is based on the assumption that if at the end of the day the mandate of  Oyetola  is sustained by the verdict of the appellate  courts,  it means that the APC, which they willingly voted out, would have to rule the state for 16 years. The current Internal Affairs Minister,  Rauf Aregbesola, spent  eight years and Oyetola if confirmed,  would spend another four years to complete  eight years.

This,  according to people, is detestable by the  people of Osun. They  were heard  saying openly at the court  premises and  across  the state, that they would  not want  to be  under the same party for that length of time.

A human rights  activist Kehinde  Aderoju, said that the  judgment had changed the mood of the people and from what he observed, they look frustrated. He said this is the period when both parties must be conscious of what they say and   react to issues until the tension in the state goes down.

One other reason why some people are weary of Oyetola  coming back is that he may become vindictive. It was argued that he is likely to deal with those in Adeleke’s camp, as well those with Aregbesola,  who worked against his reelection, a situation which is likely to  cause unending  clashes  and riots among  political groups in the state.

According to  one of the counsels to Adeleke in the case, Mr. Nathaniel  Oke,  Adeleke  remains the  governor of the State. He further pointed out that if he  failed to appeal within  21 days,  he  can’t  stay beyond  that period.

“He would remain in office if he appeals, till the determination of the appeals and enjoy all benefits as the governor in office”.

He said the PDP would eventually get  the mandate  back,  as it stood with the  minority  judgment, which backed Adeleke’s  victory.

“These are the issues  we all have to look into and get back to the commission. When you look at the whole scenario, only two delivered judgments and not three”.

The INEC lawyer argued that  the Bio model Verification Accreditation System (BVAS) was the primary source  of what transpired on the day of the election
“A report after  the election can’t  be used as the primary source of what transpired on the election upon which the results would be declared.”

The APC counsel, Barrister  Abiodun Layonu (SAN) said they were happy with the verdict  since it was the majority that supported their  prayers.

Meanwhile, the Coalition  of  United Political Parties rejected the verdict of the Tribunal and described  it  as “Black market purchase”. Their  spokesperson, Comrade Mark Adebayo said they were not worried about the Tribunal verdict as they are sure that  proper judgment  would be delivered by the appellate  courts that would  correct the anomalies.

While commenting on the  judgment, Barrister Ade Rotimi  George said  though some.of them are  not still clear why Adeleke should be disqualified, notwithstanding, he  has the right of appeal under section 241 of the  constitution,  while both parties should maintain  status quo ante  bellum,  pending  the  outcome of the appeals  at the  Appellate  court.