Yinka Kolawole in Osogbo
The Osun State Chapter of the Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP), has decried the alleged series of prejudicial media publications from the Governor of Osun State, Mr. Gboyega Oyetola, and the All Progressives Congress (APC) over the petition challenging the election of Senator Ademola Adeleke as the governor of Osun state.
A press release that was signed by the Osun State PDP Caretaker Chairman, Dr. Adekunle Akindele, and made available yesterday to THISDAY, said that the party has noticed with disappointment that the intensity of the sponsored, subjudiced media trial increased soon after the President of Court of Appeal rejected Oyetola’s request to relocate the t’sribunal sitting from Osogbo to Abuja.
However, the Chief Press Secretary to the governor, Mr. Ismail Omipidan, has said decision to challenge the outcome of the July 16 Osun State’s governorship election should never be seen as an attempt to impugn on the integrity of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
He said rather Oyetola’s decision should be commended as it was aimed at deepening the country’s democratic values.
But the PDP statement reads: “We, first of all, commend the judiciary for rejecting the relocation petition as there were no justifiable reasons for such request.
Osun is not only peaceful but the few cases of insecurity were mostly engineered by the state government in its despairing agenda to scuttle the peoples’ will. We are, therefore, elated that the judicial leadership saw through the plot and adopted the position of security agencies that Osun is secured enough to host the sitting of the tribunal.
“We must hasten to add that our objection to the relocation request was premised on the critical need to protect the integrity and safety of BVAS machines and other materials used during the elections.
“As the machines are likely to be central to the determination of the petition, keeping them safe here in Osun rather than exposing them to tampering and hacking in transit, is our official position.
“Our party as a law-abiding organisation is, however, disappointed with the recklessness and utter disregard of Mr. Oyetola and his team for the integrity and credibility of the judicial process.
“In the last few weeks, the petitioner has launched a series of media publications, first alleging false admission to over-voting by defendants, misrepresenting to the public the fillings of defendants, alleging complicity of the electoral commission through doctoring of court fillings and lately creating falsified election results to purportedly claim victory.
“As much as we have attempted to correct the counterfeited claims being an interested party, Mr. Oyetola and his team are so far incorrigible as they persist in their nefarious conduct of willful pervasion of facts.
“We have, therefore, concluded that ongoing election data manipulation in the public domain if left unchecked by the tribunal is capable of plunging the state into conflict ahead of the November 27 transfer of power.
“The polity is already overheated and it is time Mr Oyetola is called to order before he plunges the state into an avoidable crisis.
“We repeat for the sake of all lovers of democracy that all false election graphics being circulated by APC are figments of their imagination. The official results of the July 16 elections remain the authentic results. That victory of Senator Ademola Adeleke is what all defendants are defending as evidenced in their fillings at the tribunal.
“We make bold to say that none of the defendants admitted to any electoral error but rather holistically articulated data and facts which authenticated the electoral victory of Senator Adeleke.
“As the tribunal commences sitting tomorrow, we challenge Mr. Oyetola to demonstrate a measure of integrity by allowing the tribunal to treat his petition if he believes he has a good case.
“As the petitioner, his sponsored media trial digs a huge hole in his petition as it signifies a likely judicial defeat, hence his flooding the media space with falsified figures and fake news.
“If the defeated Governor fails to retrace his steps, we urge the tribunal to invoke relevant sanctions against him and his party for undermining the judiciary, for misinforming the public, for doctoring court documents, for attempting to bring the court into disrepute and for pre-empting decisions of our lord justices.
“To our teeming supporters and people of Osun State, we reassure you that your mandate conferred on Senator Adeleke is safe and secure. Recent doctored reports are manifestations of the upcoming final defeat of Mr. Oyetola as they have no impact on Adeleke’s incoming governorship of Osun State.
“Osun people have spoken; their votes are resounding, and their governor-elect is Senator Ademola Adeleke. We have deep confidence that our Lord’s Justices will surely deliver fair and equitable trial without fear or favour.”
Meanwhile, speaking with journalists yesterday, Omipidan expressed confidence in the ability of the members of the tribunal to do justice in the case before them.
He noted that the outcome of the case would enable INEC to fill some gaps that might have been noticed ahead of the 2023 general elections.
He said: “Make no mistake, our case is not in any way an attempt to impugn on the integrity of INEC. That’s not the motivation. It is to further help deepen our electoral system and to help INEC correct whatever anomalies or gaps that may have been exposed from the conduct of the Osun’s governorship election ahead of 2023 elections.
“Most of the reforms we have today as part of our electoral laws were borne out of the decisions of the court. Our observations may as well be part of the future reforms.
“Apart from the fact that we are challenging his eligibility to stand for the election in the first instance, having purportedly been awarded a university degree barely 24 days after he acquired an equivalent of an O’level result, we are equally challenging the election results in 749 polling units across 10 local governments.
“It is common knowledge that in 2019, Senator Ademola Adeleke faced criminal allegations of examination malpractice. He was granted bail, and then he travelled abroad and did not return until he came for this election.
“Interestingly, as at 2018, he had no O’Level results. But upon his return, he claimed he has a diploma, awarded to him mid last year and that the said certificate qualified him for a B.Sc in Criminal Studies or so 24 days after getting the said Diploma certificate.
“Again, recall that after the election, we applied for the BVAS report. The INEC availed us the Certified True Copy (CTC), of the report. We filed our petitions in court. But INEC later issued another CTC to the PDP, claiming that as at the time the first one was issued to us, they had not syncronised the data in the BVAS.
“The question will now be: what was the basis of declaring the election results? Is INEC right to have issued two BVAS reports that do not align? These and many more are some of the issues the tribunal will be helping us to resolve in the days ahead, and we are very confident in the ability of the tribunal to deliver justice in the matter.
“On behalf of my Principal, the Governor of Osun, Mr. Adegboyega Oyetola, I appeal to all APC supporters to remain calm, and resist the temptation to precipitate crisis by members of the opposition PDP.
