In this piece, OLUWOLE IGE examines the current test of Senator Ademola Adeleke’s victory at the July 16 governorship election in Osun State at the Osun election petition tribunal.
Though Senator Ademola Adeleke of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) scaled several hurdles to become governor-elect on July 16, he faces another hurdle to retain his mandate. From winning one battle at the poll, the next battle before Adeleke is at the tribunal with Governor Gboyega Oyetola and his party, the All Progressives Congress (APC) vowing to upturn the PDP victory. The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had declared Adeleke winner of the election having received 403,271 votes against 375,027 polled by Governor Oyetola. Before the Justice Tertsa Aorga Kume-led tribunal, Oyetola and the APC has brought against Adeleke and the PDP allegations of presentation of fake certificate to the INEC, over voting in 749 wards across 10 local government areas, majority of which were domiciled in Ede North and Ede South local governments.
In the petition filed on August 5, the Oyetola team claimed that Adeleke ought not to have been declared winner of the election, alleging that he was not qualified to participate in the election in the first place, for allegedly submitting a forged certificate to INEC. Oyetola said Adeleke forged the certificates submitted to INEC and did not comply with the provisions of the Electoral Act, 2022. In the suit, Oyetola is the first petitioner while the APC is the second petitioner. INEC, Adeleke and the PDP are first, second and third respondents respectively.
“The petitioners hereby plead and shall rely on form EC8D (being the summary of collation of results) and form EC8E (being the declaration of result) issued by the 1st Respondent, not only to show the recorded scores but also to demonstrate the invalidity of the scores recorded thereon. The petitioners plead and shall also rely on the reports and evidence by their experts, including statisticians, forensic examiners and other witnesses, as well as the report of inspection and production of materials granted to the petitioners by this honourable tribunal.
“The 2nd respondent was, at the time of the election, not qualified to contest the election. The petitioners aver that the 2nd respondent did not possess the educational qualification to contest the election to the office of governor of Osun State held on Saturday, 16th July 2022 conducted by the 1st respondent. The petitioners contend that the 2nd respondent was, at the material time, not qualified to contest election to the office of the governor of Osun State for having presented forged certificates to the 1st respondent. The petitioners say that the diploma certificate of Penn Foster High School purportedly awarded on the 16th day of July, 2021 and submitted by the 2nd respondent along with his form EC9 to the 1st respondent was forged.
“The petitioners further say that the bachelor of science in criminal justice purportedly awarded by Atlanta Metropolitan State College and submitted by the 2nd respondent along with his form EC9 to the 1st respondent was forged. The petitioners further plead that the 2nd respondent had also previously in 2018 submitted a forged certificate to the 1st respondent herein along with his form C.F.001.”
The petitioner alleged. The legal team of Oyetola claimed that it had established fundamental grounds to seek justice and ensure victory for them in view of the substance of the case. Oyetola and the APC legal loaded its renowned lawyers, comprising senior Advocate of Nigeria (SANs) Mr Yomi Aliu.
The first sitting of the tribunal was preceded with Oyetola’s legal team alleging that Adeleke had been evading service of court process. But, the tribunal had at a sitting held at Osun State High Court, located at Oke-Fia, granted an order of substituted service to Oyetola and the APC. This came after Oyetola filed an ex-parte application for substituted service at the Osun State Election Petition Tribunal following alleged failed attempts by the tribunal to serve the governor-elect, Senator Adeleke court process on the. Adeleke however denied dodging service, stating that he was available and prepared to defend his mandate. Spokesperson to the governor-elect, Mr Olawale Rasheed had said: “The governor-elect of Osun, Senator Ademola Adeleke is not by any stretch of the imagination, dodging court service. Why should he do that? He won a free and fair election adjudged as the best in recent Nigerian history. He is a committed democrat, who upholds rule of law and due process. The governor-elect is available and prepared to defend his mandate.”
Though Adeleke has composed a transition team to prepare for his swearing-in in November, he has, in the immediate, the task of navigating through the legal battle that is before him. The state is certainly set for legal fireworks both from the prosecution anad defence teams of Oyetola and Adeleke. However, stakeholders differ on the matter that going by the latest electoral reforms in uploading results on online portal.
Speaking on allegations before the tribunal, a member of Adeleke’s camp, Prince Diran Odeyemi said it is not distracted as it is well-prepared for the legal battle, pointing out that election petition is simply part of the democratic process. Odeyemi said: “We are not surprised that they are going to the tribunal because it is not in the culture of APC to play the game of sportsmanship by congratulating winners of a contest. We are not moved or thinking about their decision to approach the tribunal. It is the job for the lawyers and we would not be distracted.
“In Osun State today, even their own members in APC will be used as witnesses against them. Going to the tribunal on the part of the APC is not with the intention to win. It is with the intention to give false hope to their members, who are disenchanted. We are ready to defend our mandate freely and unconditionally given to Adeleke and PDP on July 16, 2022.”
However, Special Adviser to Oyetola on Political Matters, Chief Sunday Akere said the side it is sure that it has a strong case, hence its decision to contest the election result at the tribunal.
Akere, who served as Commissioner for Information and Strategy in Osun, during the first term tenure of ex-governor Rauf Aregbesola emphasised that “Issues are clear and we as a party are contesting the results of that election. We believe that we have a very strong case.”
As the back and forth continues between the two camps, some pundits hold that the battle may go the long haul, even to the Supreme Court. However, the battle ahead is marred by tension, and verbal attacks on one another. Outside the tribunal, the two camps have continued to hurl harsh words, accusations at one another with allegations of recruitment of some members of the National Union of Road Transport (NURTW) to forment trouble and threaten the peace of Osun State. Another issue causing friction is the insistence of the ruling APC government to conduct a local government election in October, a month before handing over to Adeleke.
Notwitstanding the ongoing legal battle at the tribunal, stakeholders hold that Adeleke must be ready for the task of governance and set sail on the assumption of office.
Dr Adedeji Adeleke, a renowned business magnate and father of hip-hop sensation, David Adeleke, popularly known as Davido, had declared that Senator Adeleke has no justifiable excuse to fail in delivering responsive and qualitative governance to the people.
He contended that the governor-elect has no godfather to report to or any political investor and merchant waiting to recoup his or her investment in the struggle that culminated in the victory of the PDP during the election.
Some stakeholders pointed to the fact that Adeleke will deploy the knowledge and experience he gained from a college in the United States of America (USA) to re possition the state .
Speaking further, the Special Adviser to Oyetola on Political Matters, Chief Sunday Akere said: “Senator Ademola Adeleke contested on the platform of the PDP and we believe he has a manifesto, which he promised to implement when he gets to government.
“If he is sworn in, he campaigned with some issues, principal among it is the promise to pay all outstanding debts and commitment within 100 days in office. We want to see how he is going to perform that magic.”
On the capacity of Adeleke to govern effectively, Akere submitted: “I will want to leave that with the opinion of a professor I had a discussion with some weeks back. The professor said: a society gets the kind of leadership that they desire. Osun got a leadership in the person of Alhaji Isiaka Oyetola. In the assessment of that professor, if Osun people gave their mandate to Oyetola again for another four years, to the state would be stabilise.
“Let us see how it goes. Within five or six months, the story will change. We have had a governor in Osun that the euphoria that brought him in was so loud, but within six months, the music changed.
“It is not for us to judge whether Adeleke is fit to be in government or not. Osun people knows the kind of person he is and they decided to vote for him. But, I can assure you that we are coming out victorious in our petition at the tribunal. Just wait and see.”
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