As expected, the All Progressives Congress, President Muhammadu Buhari and other party leaders have hailed the ruling of the Supreme Court, which on Friday, affirmed the election of Gboyega Oyetola as the governor of Osun State.
The party also congratulated the governor and the state chapter of the party for successfully “defending the legitimate mandate.”
The APC in a statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Mallam Lanre Issa-Onilu, said the victory had consolidated the majority status of the party in the country.
The statement read, “This ruling now cements the majority status of progressive governors in the country.
“Undoubtedly a closely-contested election, we commend the apex court’s decision which is in tandem with the choice of the Osun State electorate who voted for continuity and our party’s change agenda.
“The ruling will now allow the Governor Oyetola-led APC administration in Osun State focus on the core business of governance and implementing the many pro-people developmental plans for the state.”
The APC reaction came just as President Muhammadu Buhari also congratulated Oyetola.
“The decision of the apex court lays to rest the tussle over the governorship of Osun State and removes all encumbrances on the path of the governor from fully delivering dividends of democracy to the good people of the state,” a State House statement on Friday quoted Buhari as saying.
The statement, which was signed by the Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Mr Femi Adesina, added, “President Buhari commends the government and people of Osun in allowing the rule of law to run its entire course, urging them as well as security agencies to sustain the peace.
“He calls on the victorious governor and the ruling APC to be magnanimous in victory and make concrete moves towards inclusive governance as may be necessary.”
Also, the President of the Senate, Ahmad Lawan, congratulated Oyetola.
He urged him to be magnanimous in victory.
Lawan, in a statement by his Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Mohammed Isa, on Friday, described the judgment as victory for democracy, APC, the governor and the people of Osun State.
Similarly, the national leader of the APC, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, described the Supreme Court judgment as a further testimony that the “judiciary is firmly on course.”
Tinubu, a former Lagos State governor, in a statement personally signed by him on Friday, said, “Today (Friday’s) Supreme Court judgment affirming the victory of Governor Isiaka Adegboyega Oyetola of Osun State is a further testimony that our judiciary is firmly on course and works in synch with the people’s aspiration. The judgment has further vindicated the judiciary as unbiased, independent and impartial.”
The immediate past governor of Lagos State, Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode, also congratulated Oyetola on his affirmation by the Supreme Court as the duly elected governor of Osun State.
Ambode, in a statement signed by his media aide, Habib Aruna, said it was a well-deserved victory and an affirmation of the mandate given to him by the people of Osun State on September 22, 2018.
He said, “I congratulate my brother, Governor Gboyega Oyetola on this resounding victory at the apex court. It is not only a victory for the APC, but also an attestation to the fact that the judiciary remains the last hope for the common man.”
“With this victory, I strongly believe that it would enable the governor to focus on delivering on his campaign promises and implementing policies that would make life more comfortable for the people of Osun State.”
Similarly, the Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Enitan Ogunwusi, congratulated Oyetola.
A statement signed by the Ooni’s Director of Media and Public Affairs, Moses Olafare, described the Supreme Court ruling as the will of God.
He commended the opposition Peoples Democratic Party and its candidate, Senator Ademola Adeleke, for going through the legitimate means to seek clarifications over the election.
The Supreme Court had on Friday dismissed the appeals filed by the Peoples Democratic Party and its candidate in the September 2018 Governorship Election in Osun State, Ademola Adeleke, challenging the victory of Oyetola of the All Progressives Congress at the poll.
The seven-man panel of the apex court, in a split judgment of five-to-two, affirmed Oyetola’s election.
The majority judgment, was adopted by the Acting Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Tanko Muhammad, who led the seven-man panel, and Justices Olabode Rhodes-Vivour, Kudirat Kekere-Ekun, Amiru Sanusi, and Uwani Abba-Aji.
But Justices Kumai Akaahs and Paul Galinje, dissented from the majority judgment, declaring Adeleke and his party as the true winner of the poll, and accused the Independent National Electoral Commission of deliberately declaring the September 22, 2018 election already won by Adeleke inconclusive and went on to conduct a rerun on September 27, 2018 in order to favour Oyetola.
Other judgments of the apex court on all the four appeals filed by Adeleke and his party on the disputed poll followed the same pattern of split decisions.
The judgments on the disputed September 2018 election, from the tribunal to the Supreme Court, were split.
It was a split of two-to-one at the three-man tribunal; four-to-one at the five-man panel of the Court of Appeal in Abuja; and finally five-to-two at the apex court.
Five Justices of the apex court affirmed the majority judgment of the Court of Appeal delivered on May 9, 2019 and dismissed the majority judgment of the tribunal which had been delivered on March 22, 2019.
The two other Justices of the apex court affirmed the majority judgment of the tribunal and the minority judgment of the Court of Appeal.
Justice Rhodes-Vivour, who delivered the lead judgment, held that the absence of a member of the tribunal, Justice Peter Obiorah, who was absent from the proceedings of February 6, 2019, but was the one who wrote the lead judgment of the tribunal, had rendered the entire proceedings of the tribunal and its judgment a nullity.
He agreed with Oyetola’s lawyer, Chief Wole Olanipekun (SAN), that Justice Obiorah was not available on February 6, 2019 to watch the demeanour of the witnesses who testified that day and when vital documents material to the proceedings were tendered, yet he went on to deliver the lead judgment of the proceedings.
Justice Rhodes-Vivour held that the absence of Justice Obiorah at the said proceedings of the tribunal implied that the tribunal was not properly constituted and had afflicted the jurisdiction of the tribunal to conduct valid proceedings and deliver a valid judgment.
“An examination of the record of appeal reveals that well over 90 persons gave evidence, and at the end of each day’s proceedings, three judges, who included Obiorah J, signed. It was only the proceedings of the 6th of February 2009 that was not signed by Obiorah J.
“That was the day when the testimonies of RW12 and RW13 were taken. They were crossed examined and vital documents admitted in evidence, which counsel agreed, at the Court of Appeal, that Obiorah J did not sit on the 6th of February 2019 and so, he could not have signed the proceedings of that day.”
He added, “The failure of Justice Obiorah to sit on the 6th of February, 2019 renders the proceedings of that day worthless and the entire judgment a nullity.
“The correct order to make in this circumstance is to declare the entire judgment of the tribunal a nullity as a result of the fact that one of the members of the panel did not sit on a day proceedings were held.
“The learned counsel to the appellants ought to have advised his clients that the failure of Obiorah J to sit on the 6th of February 2019, but prepared the majority judgment, is a fundamental flaw.”
But Justices Akaahs and Galinje, in their minority judgment, ruled that the conclusion that Justice Obiorah did not participate in the February 6, 2019 proceedings of the tribunal “was based on conjecture” or at best “a well-articulated speculation.”
They noted that Justice Obiorah’s name appeared on the record of the February 6, 2019 proceedings, and the contention that he was absent from the hearing “was based on conjecture” or at best “a well-articulated speculation.”
They agreed with Adeleke’s lawyer, Onyechi Ikpeazu (SAN), that since the conclusion that Justice Obiorah was absent from the said hearing was based on the grounds that he did not sign the tribunal’s record of proceedings of the said date, the only way to prove his absence was to produce the original copy of the record and not its certified true copy, as Oyetola did at the Court of Appeal.
Declaring Adeleke the winner of the election, the dissenting Justices held that the PDP candidate had already won the election on September 22, 2018, having polled the majority of lawful votes and got the required spread as provided in Section 179(2) of the Constitution.
It, however, noted that INEC, contrary to the superior provision of the Nigerian Constitution, decided to use its manual to declare the election inconclusive to achieve its aim of ensuring Oyetola and APC were declared winner.
Justice Akaahs said, “I wish to say that INEC is supposed to be an umpire and not an interested party. In this particular case, INEC used its manual to cancel an election in some polling units and declared the election inconclusive when the appellant had scored the highest number of votes and got the required spread of two-thirds of the votes in the 25 per cent of the local government areas.
“They ought to have declared the appellant the winner. But INEC had something up its sleeves and it was able to achieve that by the rerun whereby the 2nd respondent (Oyetola) had 400 plus votes as against the 1st appellant (Adeleke) who had 300 plus; whereas in the election of September 22, 2018, after the illegal cancellation of some results, the 1st appellant has scored the majority votes of 300,000 plus votes.”
He added, “INEC has always used the rerun election to do what it likes. This should not continue.
“On that basis, I hold that the 1st appellant having scored the highest number of lawful votes and had the spread, he ought to be declared the winner and I so declare.”
APC celebrates in Osogbo, Ile-Ife, others
Saturday PUNCH observed that after the judgment, residents who were initially indifferent to the news, trooped to the streets to celebrate.
In Osogbo, Governor Oyetola, in a motorcade, moved through Oke fia, Alekuwodo, to Old Garage, before he later addressed the party faithful at Nelson Mandela Freedom Park, Osogbo.
Oyetola said that in the course of the litigation, he was neither afraid nor thought he could lose. He called for cooperation of all stakeholders in the affairs of the state to enable him to deliver on his campaign promises.
In Ile Ife, the APC celebration was led by the member representing Ife Central State Constituency in the Osun House of Assembly, Mr Taiwo Adebusola.
In the Oke Gada Area of Ede, some of the APC supporters danced through to the Alajue area. Adewumi Abiola, who led the party members, told one of our correspondents that members decided to celebrate Oyetola’s victory because they had all long prayed for it.
In the Ayeso and Roundabout areas of Ilesha, the APC members also took to the street to celebrate.
In the Iragbiji hometown of Governor Oyetola, members of the APC thronged the palace of Aragbiji, Oba Abdul-Rasheed Olabomi, in celebration.
I wish Governor Oyetola well – Adeleke
However, the governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party in the 2018 Osun State governorship election, Senator Ademola Adeleke, on Friday congratulated Governor Gboyega Oyetola.
Adeleke in a statement by his spokesperson, Olawale Rasheed, stated that his ambition to be the governor of Osun State was never a do-or-die affair.
He said, “As a democrat and law-abiding citizen, I accept the ruling no matter my misgivings.
“I wish Governor Oyetola well in the governance of Osun State.”
He expressed gratitude and appreciation to his supporters, leaders and members of the PDP for their support throughout the duration of the case.
Adeleke said, “In all circumstances, we must thank God Almighty. We gallantly fought a good fight in pursuance of a democratic cause. The ideals we fought for live on.
“Our ambition was never a do-or-die affair. We aspired to serve and deliver democratic dividends to the people of Osun State. Our ambition was altruistic. We wish Governor Oyetola the best in the governance of the state.”
Credit: punchng.com
