Adeleke and Oyetola
The Osun State government and the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the state have rejected the Friday judgement of the election petition tribunal which declared Senator Ademola Adeleke of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) as the winner of the September 27 governorship election in the state.
The government and the APC made their position known on Friday in separate statements signed by the Secretary to the State Government, Mr Wole Oyebamiji and the party’s Director of Publicity, Research and Strategy, Mr Kunle Oyatomi.
In its statement, the government emphasised that Mr Gboyega Oyetola of the All Progressives Congress (APC) remained the legitimate governor of the state and expressed optimism about the outcome of its application against the tribunal’s judgement at the Court of Appeal.
The statement reads in part: “The government of the State of Osun wishes to appreciate the teeming support of the majority of the people in all things essential for mutual progress.
“As it is, the administration of His Excellency, Mr Adegboyega Oyetola, Governor, State of Osun, wishes to assure the people that the judgment of the election tribunal has been put on appeal.
“This is to further assure all the residents of the state of adequate security of lives and properties, as the government of the state is still the only legitimate government having the authority to govern the state.
“We assure all our people that justice will prevail at last, and the law enforcement agencies have been instructed to maintain law and order across the state.
“We therefore urge all the residents of the state to go about their lawful duties without any hindrance.”
The state chapter of the APC, in its own statement, rejected the judgement of the tribunal, saying: “The verdict cannot stand superior legal scrutiny. Therefore, we will appeal against it.”
The PDP in the state, however, commended the judiciary for what it called a landmark judgment.
The chairman of the party in the state, Mr Soji Adagunodo, in his reaction, said the victory was for the people of the state.
Adagunodo said the judgment showed that there were still men of impeccable character in the judiciary.
“Kudos to the Nigerian judiciary as this shows that we still have men of impeccable character in the judiciary.
“Truly, the judiciary is the last hope of the common man,” Adagunodo said.
He said since the APC had decided to appeal the judgment, the PDP would await the outcome at the appellate court.
The three-member panel of the state governorship election petition tribunal sitting in Abuja, which declared Adeleke winner, had said during its ruling that the rerun election that was held on September 27, 2018 was illegal.
The tribunal, therefore, deducted the votes scored by the APC candidate, Gboyega Oyetola, in the rerun after declaring the rerun illegal.
The tribunal said Adeleke won the election at the first ballot on September 22 and the rerun that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) devised to reach a final conclusion a week later was illegal.
“The declaration of Oyetola is null and void,” the tribunal ruled in a majority decision with one member dissenting.
PDP hails Adeleke’s triumph at Osun guber tribunal
Leon Usigbe | Abuja
THE Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has hailed the verdict of the Osun State governorship election tribunal which upheld the victory of its candidate, Senator Ademola Adeleke, describing the judgement as a victory for democracy and the will of the people.
In its reaction to the verdict on Friday, the party said in a statement in Abuja that the judgment was an indication that those who set out to destroy the nation’s democracy could never triumph and that no matter how evil and injustice appear to thrive, the truth will always prevail.
In the statement signed by the National Publicity Secretary and Director, Media and Publicity, PDP Presidential Campaign Organisation, Kola Ologbondiyan, the party said Nigerians had accepted democracy as a way of life and a form of government that suits the multi-plurality of the nation.
“The spontaneous jubilation that greeted this judgment is therefore a direct indication that it is in consonance with the wishes and aspiration of Nigerians across the board.
“For those who have been desperate to destroy our democracy, this judgment has proven to them that their shenanigans will always come to no avail,” it said
The PDP commended the judiciary for standing up in the defence of democracy and for ensuring that those involved in the “rapacious desecration of our democratic norms will never succeed.”
The main opposition party said further: “This verdict, which reverberates across our nation, points to the fact that the truth will always prevail and that our party, the PDP, will recover all our stolen mandates in the 2019 general elections, particularly, the presidential mandate, which Nigerians freely gave to our candidate, Atiku Abubakar.
Adeleke Vs Oyetola : Tribunal chairman gives dissenting judgment in Osun election petition verdict
“Furthermore, all our candidates who have already won their elections, but whose victories are being manipulated by anti-democratic forces, must take solace in the words of the Osun election petition panel, that once valid votes have been declared and a winner emerges by majority of votes, a rerun is illegal.”
The PDP congratulated Senator Adeleke, the people of Osun State as well as all lovers of democracy across our country for “the triumph of justice over impunity, abuse of electoral processes and unfettered political rascality.”
Davido Congratulates uncle, Senator Adeleke, says light has come
NIGERIAN music sensation, David Adeleke, popularly known as Davido, has sent congratulations to his uncle, Senator Ademola Adeleke, after the tribunal sitting in Abuja announced that the 2018 gubernatorial elections in Osun State was won by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
“Imole ti de!!!!!!! Congratulations to the great people Of Osun State!” the star tweeted.
Davido fought vehemently for him during the campaign and on the election day. He was instrumental in calling out all the discrepancies that was observed in Osun State to the Independent Electoral Commission, (INEC).
Judiciary truly democracy’s defender –Atiku
Leon Usigbe | Abuja
THE presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the 2019 elections, Atiku Abubakar, has described the judiciary as truly the defender of Nigeria’s democracy following the declaration of Senator Ademola Adeleke as the winner of the September 2018 Osun State governorship election.
In his reaction to the verdict of the state election tribunal which sat in Abuja, the former vice president praised the judiciary for upholding the election of the PDP candidate.
In a statement by his media adviser, Paul Ibe, in Abuja, the Waziri Adamawa noted that the restoration of the “stolen mandate” of Senator Adeleke showed that, indeed, the judiciary is the last refuge of the common man and that in truth, those who were aggrieved and resolved to maintain the peace had been vindicated.
Atiku congratulated Senator Adeleke, the PDP and men and women of goodwill in Osun State who did not waver in their commitment to retrieve the “stolen mandate,” saying: “Weeping may endure for a night but joy has come for the people of Osun.”
The PDP presidential candidate commended the courage of the judiciary and its resilience “even in the face of strenuous efforts by the APC-led government to undermine and intimidate it.”
According to the nation’s former number two man, the decision of the judiciary on the Osun governorship election is phenomenal in view of the culture of inconclusive elections by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in this season.
Atiku affirmed that the judgment had rekindled hope and confidence that those whose mandate had been tampered with or denied could look forward to justice being done to them.
Atiku urged the judiciary to remain steadfast as the eyes of all Nigerians and indeed the whole world are on them to help ensure that democracy in Nigeria is put on a solid foundation.
Seyi Makinde, Oyo PDP express delight
By Tunde Ogunesan
The governor-elect of Oyo State, Mr Seyi Makinde, has said that that the judiciary may end up being the beacon of democracy in Nigeria in the foreseeable future.
Makinde, who said this on Friday in a statement signed on his behalf by Prince Dotun Oyelade, stated that the pronouncement of the election tribunal over the Osun State governorship election would reverberate through history “because the judgment was not only a validation of an obvious plebiscite, but it was a resistance to jack-knee democracy which President Buhari is desperately spreading across the land.”
Makinde said Nigerians should brace up for “more shocking judicial judgements that will redirect our traumatised nation along the path of free and fair elections which appear to be alien to contemporary Nigerian leaders.”
Also, the Oyo State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), hailed the victory of Senator Adeleke, describing it as icing on the cake of its recent victory in Oyo.
“Remember, Osun was carved out of the old Oyo State in 1991 and we have always shared a chequered history. Our dream of quick win of LAUTECH will become a success with our brother and lover of development, Senator Adeleke as governor,” the Oyo PDP said in a statement by its secretary, Alhaji Wasiu Adeleke.
WBC praises judiciary congratulates Adeleke
The World Bishops Council (WBC) Africa has praised the judiciary in Nigeria for its courage in adjudicating with the fear of God, the Osun State Governorship case handled by an election petition tribunal.
In a statement issued on Friday by the Council’s spokesman, Bishop Seun Adeoye, on behalf of WBC’s Africa Nuncio, Bishop Godspower Akandu, it described the judgment as victory for the judiciary in Nigeria under the present dispensation.
The WBC stated that with the judgment, there was now hope for the common man in the country, adding that democracy would now feel relief.
“Nigeria’s democracy is almost on the verge of suffocation with what transpired during the last general elections in the country and till now, the world is yet to come to terms with the heavily monetised and militarised polls.
“It is now clear that judiciary can save the most populous black nation from imminent trouble. It is the Council’s prayers that Nigeria will overcome this moment and enjoy political stability and economic buoyancy.
“WBC congratulates the winner of the Osun governorship election as announced by the election tribunal, Senator Ademola Adeleke and urged Mr Gboyega Oyetola to take steps necessary as allowed by the law of the country to seek redress.”
The council called on Osun people to maintain peace and not take the laws into their hands.
Besides, the WBC urged all Nigerians to be peaceful, particularly in the areas where supplementary elections would be held today.
Jubilation in Ede, Ilesa
PDP dedicates victory to Osun people
There was wild jubilation on Friday in Osun State’s towns of Ede and Ilesa and parts of Osogbo, the state capital, as the election tribunal which sat in Abuja over the petition that arose from the conduct of the September 2018 governorship poll in the state declared the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Senator Ademola Adeleke, the winner of the election.
In Ede, the hometown of the Adelekes, commercial motorcyclists and hordes of other natives besieged the residence of Ademola’s elder brother, the late Senator Isiaka Adeleke, to celebrate the verdict of the tribunal.
Saturday Tribune gathered that in some parts of Ile-Ife, many supporters of the PDP expressed their excitement about the judgment.
The state chairman of the PDP, Mr Soji Adagunodo, said the victory at the tribunal marked the dawn of great things for the state.
“I want to say emphatically that the victory is from God. The project is God’s project and God has really affirmed himself as the Almighty. I thank God for what he has done today and I thank God for the people of Osun.
“I also thank the people of Osun for voting massively for the Peoples Democratic Party and our incoming governor, Senator Nurudeen Ademola Adeleke.
“I want to urge our members and supporters that we should rejoice peacefully. We should thank God because it is God’s doing that a new era is beginning in Osun today. Today’s victory signposts the beginning of new things that would start in Osun,” Adagunodo said.
He also commended the Nigerian judiciary for “standing for the truth.”
Adagunodo, however, said that the party was ready if the APC decides to appeal the case.
Similarly, the newly elected senator for Osun East Senatorial District, Chief Francis Fadahunsi, said “we are very happy about the judgment. We have been expecting it. It is victory for democracy and for Osun people. We are coming home to celebrate.”
Dogara hails PDP’s victory
SPEAKER of the House of Representatives, Honourable Yakubu Dogara, has hailed the judgement of the Osun State Governorship Election Petitions Tribunal sitting in Abuja which upheld the petition of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate and declared the September 27, 2018 supplementary governorship election held in seven polling units illegal, describing it as a refreshing reminder that the judiciary is still alive and working.
He said the tribunal judgment had rekindled hope in Nigerians who felt robbed of their mandates in the just concluded general elections.
The speaker asked the governor of Bauchi State as well as the Resident Electoral Commissioner of the state to take a cue from the judgement and learn a lesson that the truth would always prevail, no matter how long it takes.
While congratulating the PDP and its governorship candidate, Ademola Adeleke, he urged the party’s candidates who are standing for elections today as well as their supporters to be encouraged by this judgement and come out en masse to vote for the party.
People’s will has prevailed –Bode George
Bola Badmus | Lagos
A former Deputy National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Chief Olabode George, has hailed the victory of the party at the Osun Governorship Election Petition Tribunal which sat in Abuja, saying that with the victory, the will of the people had prevailed.
Chief George said with the declaration of the party’s candidate, Senator Ademola Adeleke as the winner of the September 2018 governorship poll, the tribunal’s justices had written their names in gold.
“I thank God Almighty that truth has prevailed and those justices have shown that no matter how long, truth will prevail and they have allowed the will of the people to prevail,” he said.
Olusola, ex-Ekiti deputy governor, lauds judgement
Immediate past Ekiti State deputy governor and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governorship candidate in the July 14 governorship election, Professor Kolapo Olusola, has commended the tribunal judgement declaring Senator Ademola Adeleke of the PDP as the winner of the last September governorship election in Osun State.
He said the judgment was a signal to Governor Kayode Fayemi of Ekiti State of what to come “very soon.”
In a statement by his media aide, Mr Onaopemipo Akinloye, in Ado Ekiti, the former deputy governor congratulated Senator Adeleke and said the victory gladdened his heart.
“The stolen mandate of September 22 has been recovered and the victory of election riggers has turned pyhrric. One of the two legs supporting election rigging in Nigeria, which is contrived inconclusive and supplementary elections, has been crippled.
The other obnoxious leg, which is militarisation of our elections to give the ruling APC advantage over the opposition as was witnessed in the July 14 2018 governorship election in Ekiti will also, by God’s grace, be crippled in due course.
“Ekiti and Osun governorship elections were dress rehearsals for the unprecedented election rigging, vote buying and violence witnessed all over the country in the ongoing general elections. If this was not so manifest last year, it has become so with the charade of elections conducted last February and which is still ongoing this March,” Olusola said.
He said the PDP in Ekiti State would also, by the grace of God, retrieve its mandate “stolen by the Ekiti PDP very soon.”
He called on those occupying offices into which they were not elected to get ready to quit “because their days are numbered.”
“If lies travel for a thousand years, truth will catch up with it in one day. Today it is Osun doing poetic justice to impostors and election riggers; tomorrow it will be the turn of Ekiti people to reclaim their own stolen mandate and have the last and best laugh. Who laughs last laughs best.
“Ekiti people should not despair but keep hope alive. They should be encouraged with our party’s victory in Osun against all odds,” he added.
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