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The Supreme Court has affirmed Ademola Adeleke as Osun state’s duly elected governor.
The Supreme Court issued the ruling this afternoon, May 9, while delivering judgement in an appeal filed by the state’s immediate past governor, Adegboyega Oyetola of the APC, challenging the Appeal Court’s ruling that upheld Adeleke’s election.
In its decision, the apex court’s five-member panel, led by Justice Emmanuel Agim, held that the court of appeals correctly reinstated Adeleke as governor.
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) declared Adeleke of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) the winner of the July 16, 2022 election, saying he received 403,371 votes to unseat Oyetola, who was the incumbent at the time and received 375,027 votes.
Oyetola and his party claimed irregularities in the election and challenged Adeleke’s victory in court. On January 27, 2023, the majority judge, Justice Tertse Kume, overturned Adeleke’s victory and declared Oyetola the winner of the election. Justice Kume ruled that Oyetola received the majority of lawful votes (314,931) to Adeleke’s 290,266.
Not satisfied with the verdict, Adeleke and the PDP appealed to the Court of Appeal, which overturned the tribunal’s decision and declared Adeleke the winner of the state gubernatorial election on March 24. Oyetola and the APC appealed the Appeal Court decision to the Supreme Court, which today upheld the ruling of the Court of Appeal.
