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The former Osun State Governor and current Minister of Marine and Blue Economy, Alhaji Adegboyega Oyetola, was given a rousing welcome by the leadership and members of the All Progressives Congress (APC) on Friday assembled at strategic places to catch a glimpse and receive him as he returned to the state.
The immediate-past Osun State governor was warmly received in Osogbo from Lagos by the ecstatic members of the party who had earlier converged on the major roads to receive him.
Similarly, the loyalists of the party who had assembled at the Ilerioluwa Campaign Office, Osogbo, Osun State, upon sighting the minister took to the street with different solidarity songs and dances to welcome the former governor into the state capital.
Addressing the mammoth crowd populated by the party chieftains and members, Oyetola expressed delight in the existing unity and harmony in the party describing it as unprecedented.
He lauded the resilience of leadership and members of the party thus far noting that the party is close to victory as the next gubernatorial election is around the corner.
Speaking on the recent verdict of the Court of Appeal, Oyetola hailed the judiciary for being the last hope of a common man.
The minister who described the judgment as a victory for democracy noted that it is a testament to the fact there is light after the tunnels.
According to him: “It was a wonderful judgment coming at this time and I must commend the judiciary for being the hope of the common man. We have been on this litigation since 2022 but today we thank God that the mandate given to our chairmen and councillors had been restored.
“We are happy and we are grateful to Almighty God and we thank the judiciary for a wonderful job. With that, I believe that the issue of enforcement of the judgment will be constitutionally done.
“We are law-abiding citizens and as you all know, our party, the APC, believes in the rule of law. We are appealing to the security agencies to do the needful by ensuring that the chairmen and councillors are given the opportunity to resume to their offices.
“I want to assure everyone particularly members of our party that by God’s grace, there will be a free and fair governorship election and we are confident to win the election”, Oyetola added.
While fielding questions from newsmen, Barrister Muideen Adeoye, a counsel to the APC, disclosed that there was no going back in enforcing the Appeal Court’s judgment.
Adeoye warned the Osun State Independent Electoral Commission (OSIEC) to respect the Appeal Court’s judgment that reinstated the unjustifiably sacked council officials by abandoning the proposed illegal council election.
The legal practitioner who praised the judiciary for the sound judgment called on the OSIEC to refrain from any act capable of undermining the integrity and sanctity of the judiciary and obey the court order.
He insisted that there is no vacancy in the councils across the state for OSIEC to fill hence the need for the Commission to obey the rule of law and court judgment that restored the elected council chairmen and councillors.
“The election of Chairmen and Councillors into local government held in 2022 remains valid. It is unfortunate that the elected officials were sent out of offices barely one-to-two months of being in the office and thank God the court has restored them back.
“I know those in government including the OSIEC has been giving different interpretations that suit them to justify the court verdict but to me, talk is cheap but fact is sacred.
“One doesn’t need to labour more on this. All we need to do is to go to page 15 of the judgment where the Court of Appeal specifically mentioned the amended notice of appeal upon which the appeal was determined. It is that appeal that contained all the reliefs sought by the parties and the appeal was allowed”, Barrister Adeoye explained.
As regards the effect of the Court of Appeal judgment on the proposed Local Government election in the state, Adeoye said; “in the eye of the law, the seats of the Chairmen and Councillors are not vacant unless the decision of that appellate court is set aside”.
