Inec files appeal against Osun electoral tribunal judgement insisting Adeleke was duly elected

NIGERIA'S Independent National Electoral Commission (Inec) has filed an appeal against the judgement of the Election Petition Tribunal that nullified the recent victory of Osun State Governor Ademola Adeleke  in the July 16 2022 gubernatorial polls.

Last year, Governor Adeleke was declared the winner of the Osun State gubernatorial elections, with the Independent National Electoral Commission (Inec) giving him got a total of 403,371 votes beating the incumbent Gboyega Oyetola who got 375,027 votes in the keenly-contested race. However, Governor Oyetola of the All Progressives Congress (APC) took the matter to the election petitions tribunal and won a favourable decision on January 27 this year.

In its ruling, the Osun State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal sitting in Osogbo overturned Governor Adeleke's victory on the grounds of over-voting. Led by Justice Tertsea Kume, the tribunal noted that although the APC’s claim of over-voting was not complete, it agreed that there was evidence of some over-voting in the election.

Inec has now issued a Notice of Appeal dated January 30 2023, filed before the Court of Appeal, Akure Division. In the notice, the commission lists 44 grounds of appeal and asks the court, to set aside the judgement of the tribunal.

In addition, Inec also asked the court to dismiss the petition filed by the APC and its candidate Adegboyega Oyetola, for lacking in merit. Also, Inec challenges the decision of the tribunal on the grounds that the panel erred in law by claiming that Governor 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 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. Furthermore, 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.