Yinka Kolawole in Osogbo
The Osun State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal sitting in Osogbo, the state capital, will on Friday, January 27 deliver its judgment on the petition filed by the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate, Gboyega Oyetola, challenging the declaration of Ademola Adeleke of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) as the winner of the July 16, 2022 election in the state.
Parties involved in the suit confirmed the tribunal communicated the date to them on Tuesday, January 24, even as the notice has heightened anxiety in different quarters.
The 180 days stipulated in the Electoral Act within which to hear the petition is expected to lapse on January 31, 2023.
Oyetola had filed a petition at the tribunal challenging the declaration of Adeleke, by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) as the winner of the election.
Adeleke secured 403,371 votes to defeat Oyetola, who polled 375,027.
Oyetola, the immediate past governor of the state, is hinging his case on alleged rigging, infractions in some polling units and the authenticity of the WAEC certificate presented by Adeleke, among other grounds.
The three-man tribunal headed by Justice Tersea Kume had Friday, January 13 adjourned indefinitely after parties in the petition had adopted their final written addresses.
Meanwhile, the leadership of APC in the state has enjoined its members to embark on fasting and prayer in order to seek God’s favour in the governorship election litigation in which judgment will be pronounced on Friday.
The acting state Chairman of the APC, Sooko Tajudeen Lawal, who stated this in Osogbo, said it was necessary for the party to resort to supplications after having effected everything legally allowed at the tribunal for the retrieval of former Oyetola’s stolen mandate in the July 16, 2022 governorship election.
Lawal reminded the members and supporters of the party that everything needs prayer for the attainment of perfection and as a potent insulation against the powers and principalities of the underworld.
