Oyetola Petitioning Osun Election Result Aimed At Deepening Democratic Values - Omipidan

The decision of the Osun State Governor, Adegboyega Oyetola to approach the tribunal and challenge the outcome of the Osun gubernatorial election has been described as an attempt aimed at deepening country’s democratic values and its electoral system.

It has also been stated that the decision should never be seen as an attempt to impugn the integrity of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) Ismail Omipidan, Oyetola’s spokesman, has said.

Making this statement on Sunday in Osogbo, Ismail Omipidan, the Chief Press Secretary to the Osun governor also expressed confidence in the ability of members of the Osun Election Petition Tribunal to do justice in the case before it.

The Osun Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) had also on Sunday commended the Nigerian judiciary for rejecting the relocation petition of the All Progressives Congress (APC) with regard to the Osun Election Petition Tribunal.

The Osun APC had petitioned the Court of Appeal for the election petition tribunal to be relocated out of the state on the basis that the state was not secured.

The party stated that there were no justifiable reasons for such a request and that it was elated that the judicial leadership saw through the plot and adopted the position of security agencies that Osun is secured enough to host the sitting of the Tribunal.

The Osun Election Petition Tribunal will commence on Monday, September 26, 2022.

Omipidan also noted that the outcome of the petition would go a long way in making the INEC fill some noticeable gaps ahead of the 2023 General Elections.

“Make no mistake, our case is not in any way an attempt to impugn the integrity of INEC.

"That’s not the motivation. It is to further help deepen our electoral system and to help INEC correct whatever anomalies or gaps that may have been exposed from the conduct of the Osun Governorship Election ahead of the 2023 elections.

"Most of the reforms we have today as part of our electoral laws were borne out of the decisions of the court.

"Our observations may as well be part of the future reforms,” Omipidan added.

The governor’s spokesperson while stating that the All Progressives Congress (APC) has a case also added that his principal was also challenging the election results in 749 poling units across 10 local governments.

“Apart from the fact that we are challenging his eligibility to stand for the election in the first instance, having purportedly been awarded a university degree barely 24 days after he acquired an equivalent of an O’level result, we are equally challenging the election results in 749 polling units across 10 Local Governments.

“It is common knowledge that in 2019, Senator Ademola Adeleke faced criminal allegations of examination malpractice.

"He was granted bail, and then he traveled abroad and did not return until he came for this election.

“Interestingly, as of 2018, he had no O-level results.

"But upon his return, he claimed he has a diploma, awarded to him mid-last year and that the said certificate qualified him for a B.Sc in Criminal Studies or so 24 days after getting the said Diploma certificate."

Omipidan who wondered the basis for the electoral umpire declaring the result for the July 16 gubernatorial election in the state claimed that INEC had issued two unsychronised BVAS reports.

“Again, recall that after the election, we applied for the BVAS report.

"INEC availed us of the Certified True Copy, CTC, of the report.

"We filed our petitions in court. But INEC later issued another CTC to the PDP, claiming that at the time the first one was issued to us, they had not synchronized the data in the BVAS.

"The question will now be, 'what was the basis of declaring the election results?

"Is INEC right to have issued two BVAS reports that do not align?

"These and many more are some of the issues the Tribunal will be helping us to resolve in the days ahead, and we are very confident in the ability of the Tribunal to deliver justice in the matter."

INEC had declared Ademola Adeleke, the PDP gubernatorial candidate the winner of the Osun 2022 gubernatorial election after defeating the incumbent governor, Adegboyega Oyetola of the APC.

Governor Adegboyega Oyetola of the APC did not acknowledge the election result but stated that they were studying it and would come out with a position.

Also, Ademola Adeleke was issued with a Certificate of Returns as the Governor-elect.