The Abuja Division of the Court of Appeal has fixed
Wednesday for the hearing of the appeal filed by the Osun State Governor, Mr.
Adegboyega Oyetola and the All Progressives Congress, challenging the judgment
of the state’s Governorship Election Petitions Tribunal which nullified their
election.
The tribunal had on March 22, 2019, in a split decision
declared Oyetola’s main rival in the September 2018 election in the state,
Senator Ademola Adeleke of the Peoples Democratic Party as the one validly
elected as the governor.
It nullified the certificate of return issued to Oyetola and
ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission to issue a fresh one to
Adeleke.
The tribunal’s Chairman, Justice Ibrahim Sirajo, in his
minority judgment dissented from the majority judgment adopted by Justices
Peter Obiorah and Adegboye Gbolagunte.
It was learnt on Monday that April 24 had been fixed by the
Court of Appeal for the hearing of the appeal challenging the tribunal’s
judgment.
Oyetola had in his 39-ground notice of appeal filed on March
26, 2019, urged the Court of Appeal to
nullify the majority judgment, which he argued was perverse, replete with
contradictions and not supported by evidence led by the petitioners.
The appellant, through his lead counsel, Chief Wole
Olanipekun (SAN), who filed the notice of appeal on his behalf, asked the Court of Appeal to uphold his
appeal, and not only set aside the tribunal’s majority judgment but to also
dismiss the October 16, 2018 petition by the PDP and Adeleke.
The governor, by his appeal, challenged the entire majority
judgment.
The aspects of the majority judgment he asked the Court of
Appeal to uphold are where the tribunal held that it lacked jurisdiction to set
aside INEC guidelines; that the allegations of over-voting were not proved;
that the petitioners did not prove voided votes and other parts of the
judgment, where the tribunal agreed with their arguments.
Faulting the majority judgment’s nullification of the
September 27, 2018 supplementary election, the appellant stated, “Having rightly held that it lacked the
jurisdiction to strike out and nullify the approved Guidelines and Regulations
for the Conduct of the Osun State Governorship Election 2018, made by INEC, the
tribunal misdirected itself in law and came to a perverse decision by going
ahead to nullify the rerun election.”
He also contended, among others, that the majority judgment
was a nullity on the basis that it was written by Justice Obiorah “who did not
participate in all the proceedings of the tribunal and who was not present when
all the witnesses gave evidence.”
He also argued that
the tribunal acted without jurisdiction by anchoring its decision to grant the
petitioners’ prayers and set aside his return on the basis of allegations of
non-compliance with the Electoral Act, in relation to the September 22
governorship election.
The appellant noted
that, nowhere in the entire petition, did Adeleke and the PDP complained about
non-compliance with the provisions of the Electoral Act in relation to the
September 22, 2018 election.
He faulted the decision of the tribunal to declare Adeleke
and the PDP winner when the petitioners had admitted to have benefited from
INEC’s alleged non-compliance with Electoral Act by INEC’s alleged failure to
fill in some portions of the Forms EC8A (polling unit result sheets).
He maintained that if the tribunal had rightly upheld the
allegations of non-compliance it only ought to order a rerun.
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