Senator Ademola Adeleke has been officially recognized as the duly elected governor of Osun State by the Supreme Court, effectively bringing an end to the lengthy legal dispute between him and former Governor Gboyega Oyetola, News About Nigeria reports.
In the main judgment, which was prepared and delivered by Justice Emmanuel Agim, a member of the five-person panel overseeing the case, the court determined that Mr. Oyetola and the All Progressives Congress (APC) did not provide substantial evidence to substantiate their claims of excessive voting and inadequate voter accreditation.
Justice Agim pointed out that the evidence submitted by the appellants, which notably excluded the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) machines from the 744 contested polling units, could not be considered a reliable source for the records of accredited voters in those units.
The failure to produce authentic voter accreditation records from the BVAS indicated that the appellants relied on secondary, insufficient, and inadmissible means to support their allegations.
Furthermore, the court ruled that the expert analysis presented by the APC and Mr. Oyetola lacked impartiality since the expert in question was a member of the APC and closely associated with Mr. Oyetola, thereby having a vested interest in his analysis.
Consequently, the appellant failed to substantiate their claims in a satisfactory manner.
“Upon the conclusion of the evidence, it became evident that the appellant’s case had completely collapsed,” stated Justice Agim.
Following the upturning of his victory by the Court of Appeal, Mr. Oyetola sought redress at the Supreme Court after the Osun State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal upheld Mr. Adeleke as the duly elected governor.
The legal battle between Senator Ademola Adeleke and ex-Governor Gboyega Oyetola has finally come to a close with the Supreme Court’s affirmation of Senator Adeleke’s position as the legitimate governor of Osun State.
