Following his victory on Friday, the former governor of Osun State, Gboyega Oyetola, had said the Independent National Electoral Commission was the greatest beneficiary of the judgment delivered by the Osun Election Petition Tribunal.
Premium Politics had reported that the election petition tribunal nullified the election that made Ademola Adeleke the governor of the state, while upholding Oyetola as the valid winner of the said election.
The Chairman of the three-man panel, Justice Tertsea Kume, while reading the judgment said the election was not conducted in compliance with the Electoral Act, as there was indeed over-voting in 774 polling units in 10 local government areas in the state.
PMNews reported that while speaking with newsmen in his country home, Iragbiji, the All Progressive Congress candidate said the judgment showed that INEC needs to learn and check some anomalies before the forthcoming general elections.
He added that the verdict was also a collective victory for the state and the nation’s democracy.
He said, “There is no victor, no vanquished. It is a collective victory for our state and our nation’s democracy.
“I am happy that the judgment had resolved the controversy of the July 16th, 2022 governorship election.
“INEC is the greatest beneficiary of the judgment. It will afford them the opportunity to look at all the anomalies and make necessary adjustments to prevent such mistakes now that the general elections are coming.
“I thank the people of the state and supporters for standing by us, for their courage and loyalty. I want to assure them that we are ready to continue to serve them.”
Kume said it was “the duty of the tribunal to deduct the valid votes cast from the over-voting, and after the deduction of valid votes scored by candidates from the observed over-voting, Gboyega Oyetola, the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), polled 314,931, while Adeleke polled 290,266 votes.”
Kume then directed INEC to retrieve the Certificate of Returns issued to Adeleke as the elected governor.