22nd March, 2019
There was wild jubilation in Ede, Osun, the home town of Sen. Ademola Adeleke on Friday, following the tribunal judgment which upheld his election.
The tribunal which sat in Abuja had declared Adeleke winner of the Sept. 2018 governorship election in Osun.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), who was in the town, reports that supporters of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) as well people of Ede were seen dancing and singing victory song.
At the country home of Adeleke, large crowd were seen within and outside his premises singing and dancing.
Okada riders, in their large numbers, were also seen using their motorcycles to display different skills to celebrate the victory.
Speaking on the victory, Mrs Dupe Adeleke-Sanni, Adeleke’s elder sister, commended the judiciary for retrieving the ‘ stolen mandate ‘.
Adeleke-Sanni, who said she dedicated the victory to God and his late brother Sen. Isiaka Adeleke, said the victory was well-deserved.
“We thank God for returning our stolen mandate.
“It is not by our might or power but by the grace of God that we have the mandate back,” she said.
She, however, commended the people of Ede for standing with the family during the trying period, urging them to continue to stand with them.
NAN reports that the Osun State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal sitting in Abuja had on Friday declared Adeleke winner.
The three-member panel said during its ruling that the re-run election that held on Sept. 27, 2018, was illegal.
The tribunal, therefore, deducted the votes scored by the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate, Gboyega Oyetola, in the re-run after declaring it illegal.
The tribunal said Adeleke won the election at the first ballot on Sept. 22 and the re-run that INEC devised to reach a conclusion a week later was illegal.
“The declaration of Oyetola is null and void,” the tribunal ruled in a majority decision of two with one member dissenting.