Immediate past governor of Osun State, Gboyega Oyetola, says the verdict of the election petition tribunal which validated his victory in the July 16, 2022 governorship election, showed there’s renewed hope for the people of the State.
Oyetola while reminiscing on his victory stated this via his Twitter handle on Saturday.
Following the rulling, Oyetola, while speaking with reporters in his home town, Iragbiji, also said “it is a collective victory for our state and our nation’s democracy.
“INEC is the greatest beneficiary of the judgment. It will afford them the opportunity to look at all the anomalies and make necessary adjustments to prevent such mistakes now that the general elections are coming.
“I thank the people of the state and supporters for standing by us, for their courage and loyalty. I want to assure them that we are ready to continue to serve them,” he said.
Meanwhile, there was wild jubilation in Iragbiji following the tribunal judgment, with large numbers of residents jubilating over the verdict.
Nigerians will head to the polls on February 25 and March 11 for national and state elections, respectively.
READ ALSO: Don’t Issue Certificate Of Return To Oyetola – Adeleke Writes INEC
On Friday, a majority ruling by the three-man Osun Elections Petition Tribunal held that the July 16 elections conducted by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) did not comply with the Electoral Act which came into force in 2022.
Following the passage of the Electoral Act, Osun was one of the few states where INEC first deployed its recently introduced Bimodal Voter Accreditation System, which it claimed was fraud-proof.
But the Justice Tersea Kume-led panel found that there was indeed over-voting in 774 polling units in 10 local government areas in the state.
He said it was the duty of the tribunal to deduct the valid votes cast from the over-voting and therefore awarded victory to Mr Oyetola after retabulating the figures to score him 314,931 votes as against governor Ademola Adeleke’s 290,266 votes.
Adeleke, however, vowed to appeal the judgement which he described as a miscarriage of justice.
However, amidst the brouhaha, Oyetola tweeted, “The Tribunal judgement delivered yesterday on our petition ushers in a new dawn of a renewed hope & recovery for Osun State.
“I see it as a no victor & no vanquished situation for our party members, but rather a collective victory for the people of Osun and Nigeria’s democracy.”
