INEC appeals Osun tribunal’s judgement

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has appealed the judgement of the Osun State Election Petition Tribunal that nullified the victory of the state governor, Ademola Adeleke.

INEC, in a Notice of Appeal dated January 30, 2023, and filed before the Court of Appeal, Akure Division, asked the court to set aside the judgement of the tribunal.

The electoral umpire listed 44 grounds of appeal in the Notice of Appeal signed by counsel to INEC, Prof. Paul Ananaba, SAN, and 17 others.

The appellant also asked the court to dismiss the petition filed by the All Progressives Congress (APC) and its gubernatorial candidate, Gboyega Oyetola, for lacking in merit.

It also challenged the decision of the tribunal on the grounds that the panel erred in law by claiming that Adeleke did not score the 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.

INEC added that the tribunal erred in law by using a table contained in the final written address of the petitioners to determine overvoting and deducted votes scored by the respondent.

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

It noted that the allegation that it tampered with the official records was a criminal allegation that must be proven beyond a reasonable doubt, adding that there was no proof it tampered with any records before the panel.

It would be recalled that a three-man election tribunal chaired by Justice Tertsea Kume, in Osogbo, the Osun State capital, on January 27, ruled that Oyetola is the duly elected governor of the state.

Kume, in his ruling, ordered INEC to issue a Certificate of Return to Oyetola while declaring the result that produced Adeleke as governor as null and void.

He ruled that there was over-voting in six Local Government Areas of the state during the election.

The majority judgement read by Justice Kume said Oyetola polled 314,931 votes against Adeleke’s 219,666 votes.

The Star