INEC Appeals Osun Poll Judgment, Defends Adeleke’s Victory

The Independent National Electoral Commission has appealed the judgment of the Election Petition Tribunal that nullified the victory of Osun State Governor, Senator Ademola Adeleke, in the July 16 governorship poll.

In the Notice of Appeal dated January 30, 2023, filed before the Court of Appeal, Akure Division, obtained in Osogbo on Wednesday, the commission listed 44 grounds of appeal and asked the court to set aside the judgment of the tribunal.

INEC also urged the appellate court to declare that the petition filed by All Progressives Congress and its candidate at the poll, Adegboyega Oyetola, is lacking in merit.

A tribunal led by Justice Tertsea Kume had nullified Adeleke’s victory and declared Oyetola as the duly elected governor at the poll in its judgement of January 27, 2023.

The panel said over-voting was established in 744 polling units and thus deducted the excess votes from the votes garnered by Adeleke and Oyetola.

But in a minority decision, a member of the panel, Justice A. Ogbuli, dismissed APC’s petition and upheld Adeleke’s victory at the poll.

In its Notice of Appeal signed by its counsel, Prof. Paul Ananaba (SAN) and 17 other lawyers, the commission said the tribunal erred in law by claiming that Adeleke did not score majority of the lawful votes, saying the petitioners only called two witnesses who did not prove that the PDP candidate did not win the election.

The INEC also said the tribunal erred in law by using a table contained in the final written address of the petitioners to determine over-voting and deducted votes scored by the respondent.

The electoral body also dismissed the tribunal’s claim that because it issued different accreditation reports, its conduct was tantamount to tampering with official documents.