The Osun State Governorship Election Petitions Tribunal sitting in Abuja Friday has declared Ademola Adeleke winner of the September 22 election.
Delivering the lead ruling of the three-man tribunal, Chairman Ibrahim Sirajo, said that the rerun election that held on September 27 was illegal.
The tribunal said Adeleke won the election at the first ballot on September 22, and the rerun that INEC devised to reach a final conclusion a week later was illegal.
A three -member panel of the tribunal , dismissed the objections filed by Gov. Oyetola, APC and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
Both Adeleke and the PDP in their different petitions had urged the tribunal to declare that he scored the highest lawful votes in the election and should be declared as winner.
However, Oyetola, APC and INEC had filed their notices of preliminary objection against the petition on the grounds that the petition is incompetent adding that the court lacked jurisdiction to entertain the petition.
Sirajo, held that the objections were misconceived and struck them out.
After the first ballot, Adeleke polled 254,698 votes to beat Oyetola who trailed him with 254,345 votes.
INEC, however, declared the election inconclusive because the margin between the PDP and APC, 353 votes, is less than the number of registered voters, 3,498, in the seven polling units where elections were cancelled.
The rerun election was held at three polling units in Orolu, two polling units in Ife South, one polling unit in Ife North local governments and one polling unit in Osogbo.
Prof. Adeola Afuwape, the Returning Officer of the election, during the collation after the rerun said Oyetola polled 255,505 votes to defeat Adeleke who got 255,023 votes. He then declared Oyetole the winner of the election.
“That Gboyega Oyetola, having satisfied the requirement of the law and won the highest number of votes is hereby declared winner and returned elected,” Afuwape said.
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