On Friday, Jan. 27, the Osun Governorship Election Petition Tribunal sacked Ademola Adeleke as the state’s governor, directing the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to withdraw the certificate of return issued to him and his deputy, Kola Adewusi, both of whom had been sworn in.
Mr Adeleke was declared the winner of the June 16, 2022 election, with a total of 403,371 votes. He was said to have won in 17 of the 30 Local Government Areas (LGAs) in the state.
Mr Oyetola on the other hand won 13 LGAs with 375,027 votes. Not pleased with the development, the immediate past governor approached the tribunal, claiming that the election was marred by over-voting in 749 polling units among other discrepancies.
In its judgment on Friday, the panel led by Justice Terste Kume annulled Mr Adeleke’s victory and directed that the certificate of return should instead be issued to Mr Oyetola.
Justice Kume led tribunal, held that the governorship election was characterized by over-voting. So, after deducting the excessive votes, the figure Mr Oyetola polled at the election was 314,921 and Mr Adeleke polled 290,666.
After the judgment was delivered, members of the PDP trooped out of the court premises accusing the tribunal of injustice.
One of the protesters in the viral video uploaded by BBC News Yoruba said the chairman of the Tribunal panel sacked Mr Adeleke for dancing Buga song in public.
As of the time of filing this report, the post has been viewed by over 500,000 people.
While over 6,000 Facebook users have shared it, it has garnered over 3,000 comments.
Battabox, however, got a copy of the judgment which read:
“…the second respondent (Adeleke) did not score a majority of lawful votes cast at the election. The declaration and return is hereby declared null and void.
“The second respondent cannot ‘go lo lo lo lo’ and ‘buga won’ as the duly elected governor of Osun state in the election conducted on the 16th day of July 2022. See Kizz Daniel song, ‘Buga’.
SEE: I will appeal the judgment: Governor Adeleke rejects tribunal verdict
“Rather, we hereby hold that the first petitioner scored a majority of lawful votes in the said election and is hereby returned as such.
“The first respondent (INEC) is at this moment directed to withdraw the certificate of return issued to the second respondent, and issue it to the first petitioner (Oyetola) as the duly elected governor of Osun state.”
Verdict: Based on available documents, it is FALSE that the Osun governor tribunal sacked Mr Adeleke for dancing Kiss Daniel ‘Buga’.
Just In: Court sacks Adeleke as Osun governor, declares Oyetola winner
