AT LAST, the curtain has been drawn on the long drawn contest in Osun State between Governor Adegboyega Oyetola and Senator Ademola Adeleke with the Supreme Court judgment in favour of the former. It was, indeed, a long-drawn battle that almost wearied and wore out the combatants and their allies. Of course, the millions of the citizens of the state of the Living Spring, had their own share in the frustration of a contest that must naturally be won by one candidate.
Notwithstanding the euphoria and aroma of victory, the victor must be counting his gains and losses in terms of human and materials, as well as energies that were dissipated in the 10-month contest of wits and power. Ditto the rival camp, which put up a gallant fight by exploring all constitutional and legitimate means of seeking justice. Be that as it may, the different phases, shape and form the battle for the governorship seat traversed are imbued with a lot of lessons for all critical stakeholders in the country not just in Osun State. The twists and turns that characterised the case from the Osun State Governorship Election Tribunal, to the Court of Appeal and eventually, the Supreme Court hold a lot of scrutiny and study by scholars on jurisprudence and political engineering.
From the beginning to the final judgment, the case and the inherent processes exposed the underbellies and inadequacies of the political system, the electoral commission system and the judicial cum legal institution.
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INEC, Oyetola and Adeleke
The INEC had declared the September 22, 2018 governorship election “inconclusive,” in the first instance by Professor Joseph Fuwape, the presiding officer of the election at the INEC headquarters in Osun. At the end of the collation of votes, the PDP candidate, Adeleke, won majority votes of 254,698 votes, while Oyetola of the APC came a close second with 254,345 votes, thus difference of about 354 votes. “Unfortunately as the returning officer, it’s not possible to declare anybody as the clear winner of the election on the first ballot,” Fuwape, Vice-Chancellor of the Federal University of Technology, Akure, said. He said that the total registered voters in the five polling units, where elections were cancelled, was 3,498 votes. The commission’s guideline stipulates in Section 153 of the Electoral Act that a rerun becomes necessary if the margin of victory in an election is lower than the number of voters in units where elections are cancelled. In that case, rerun will hold in areas where elections are cancelled. Thus, the INEC fixed September 27, 2018 for the rerun. But, the Adeleke campaign organisation against declaring the election inconclusive based on available evidence after the poll.
“We reject plan and plot for re-run;a winner has clearly emerged. To INEC chiefs,time is now to announce Senator Nurudeen Ademola as the winner of this historic election,” Adeleke’s spokesman, Olawale Rasheed said in a statement.
Tribunal relocates to Abuja
There were claims and counter-claims why the tribunal had to relocate to Abuja at the state of the election matter. This was after the tribunal had undergone a shakeup with a change of all of its members. The authorities dismissed speculations that the relocation was informed by politics. The reshuffled three-member panel was moved to the FCT High Court No 24, Apo Abuja based on directives from the President of the Court of Appeal, Zainab Bulkachuwa. The spokesperson of the Court of Appeal, Sa’adatu Musa, said the action of Mrs Bulkachuwa was in line with the 1999 Constitution. “It is constitutional. The president (of the appeal court) has the power to constitute a panel and to use that same discretion if she feels a need for safety so that there will be peace. If there’s a flash point or there would be trouble or insecurity of the judges, will you want to expose your judges if you are the one? Because of this, once in a while (the president exercises the power) and for peace to reign. Let there be no interference and so as to maintain peace and order amidst tensed politics.”
Judgment by tribunal
In a split judgment, the tribunal sitting in Apo, Abuja nullified the election of Governor Oyetola and ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to immediately withdraw the Certificate of Return earlier issued to him as winner of the September 2018 poll. Only the chairman of the Tribunal, Justice Ibrahim Sirajo upheld the whole election. In the majority Judgment delivered by Justice Peter Obiora, the tribunal set aside the rerun election conducted on September 27, 2018 for being unlawful. Justice Obiora held that the poll conducted in the seven units was unknown to the law because INEC had no power to conduct it. Consequently, the tribunal declared candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP),Adeleke as the duly elected governor and ordered INEC to immediately issue him with Certificate of Return. The tribunal also agreed that PDP and Adeleke established beyond reasonable doubt that INEC did not comply substantially with the Electoral Act in 17 polling units. Accordingly, more than 2,000 votes credited to the APC and Governor Oyetola by INEC were deducted from the tribunal, just as the PDP and Adeleke lost more than 1000 votes. According to the tribunal, the returning officer who cancelled the result in the affected units after the announcement had no power to have done so.
However, the majority judgment after deductions of the votes recorded in the rerun poll gave Adeleke’s score as 253,777 and Oyetolas as 253,476. In the minority judgment, Justice Sirajo, Chairman of the tribunal, held that the petitioners, PDP and Adeleke failed to prove how the non-compliance of non-recording in the columns of accredited votes and account of ballots in the result sheets substantially affected the final results. He further stated that even when non substantial compliance affected the outcome of the election, the tribunal, by virtue of section 140(2) of the Electoral Act, did not have the power to subtract the votes affected by the non-compliance from the scores of the candidates and announce a winner. He said the tribunal only had the power to nullify the results of the polling units affected by the noncompliance and order a supplementary poll, stating that even if the non-compliance was substantial, it was not proved by the petitioners.
Oyetola at Court of Appeal
The APC and Oyetola had filed an appeal seeking to set aside the judgment and dismiss the petition dated October 16, 2018, filed by the PDP and Adeleke. The APC and Oyetola urged the Court of Appeal to reverse the judgment of the tribunal, with its legal team led by Chief Wole Olanipekun (SAN), filing a notice on 39 grounds, faulting the judgment of Justice Peter Obiora and Justice Ayinla Gbolagunte. But, the Court of Appeal judgment was in favour of Oyetola as it ruled that the tribunal erred to have set aside the rerun. It also declared that Justice Obiora who delivered the majority decision at the tribunal, was not present on February 6, 2019, when the issue of none-compliance with extant provisions in the electoral law was discussed at the tribunal. It was against this background that Adeleke challenged the decision at the Supreme Court.
With the battle fought and won, both camps deserved some moments of respite to take stock and plan ahead. It should be time for serious governance and monitoring to ensure accountability, prudence and probity, which should be the primary duty of those who are not able to form the government of the day.