The Osun tribunal verdict

February 1, 2023

Olayode Inaolaji

The verdict pronounced by the Osun State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal chaired by the Justice Tetse Kume against Sen. Ademola Adeleke of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), and in favour of Mr Oyetola Adegboyega of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has generated so many reactions on various social media platforms.

It will be recalled that Adeleke was proclaimed winner in the last gubernatorial election held on July 16, 2022, by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC). Nonetheless, according to the verdict by the tribunal, it shows that despite the strenuous efforts of INEC to forestall the manipulation of the gubernatorial election through the technological gadgets put into place, election rigging still came to play.

Anyway, Oyetola should be eulogised for his staunch courage and unwavering determination to drag the case to the election tribunal in the first place. If he had succumbed or accepted the defeat, the judgment pronounced by the tribunal would not have occurred.

On the other hand, I doff my cap for the sacked governor of Osun State for the level of his optimism and his grand regard for the rule of law by pleading with his ardent supporters to maintain peace. This means the APC candidate proclaimed as the governor of Osun by the tribunal should not feel fulfilled yet.

The Osun government is earnestly beseeched to beef up security in the state. Any unruly individual should be nabbed and made to face the wrath of the law. Without doing this, the security condition of the state may deteriorate.

The issue now is that everyone must maintain law and order and pay no respect for electoral malpractice which is one of the major problems affecting the choice of the masses.