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Tag: Osun Poll

  • Osun Poll: Tribunal reserves judgment

    Osun Poll: Tribunal reserves judgment

    The Osun Election Petitions Tribunal on Friday adjourned for judgment, the petition filed by former Gov Gboyega Oyetola, challenging the victory of Sen. Ademola Adeleke of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the July 16 governorship election.

    The Chairman of the three-man panel, Justice Tertsea Kume, reserved the judgment for a later day to be communicated to parties in the matter after the petitioner and respondents had adopted their final written addresses in Osogbo, the capital.

    Oyetola and the All Progressives Congress (APC) had on Aug. 5, submitted a petition before the tribunal in Osogbo.

    Oyetola and APC were challenging the election results from 749 polling units across 10 local government areas of the state for various alleged electoral malpractice, especially over-voting.

    The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had declared Adeleke as the winner of the governorship election, having polled 403, 271 votes against 375,027 polled by Oyetola.

    Earlier, Counsel to APC, Mr Lateef Fagbemi (SAN) in his final written address, said all documents and processes were filed and submitted on Jan. 8.

    Fagbemi adopted all submitted written documents and objections on point of law and also argued all objections earlier filed by the respondents, asking the court to accede to all his submissions and requests.

    Fagbemi cited sections 51 (2) and 47(2) of the Electoral Act on cancellation of polling units where numbers of votes exceeded the numbers of registered and accredited voters .

    Also, Mr Akin Olujimi, SAN, counsel to Oyetola, said the testimonial tendered by Gov. Adeleke did not show that he attended Muslim Grammar School in Ede.

    Olujimi dismissed the claime by the repondents that Gov. Adeleke was eligible to contest election and he submitted that the testimonial that Adeleke tendered was fake because it was obtained in 1988 from Osun State, while Osun was actually created in 1991.

    According to him, the respondent should have pleaded that the mistake was a typographical issue but which they never did.

    Olujimi said all the documents tendered by the respondent’s counsel had no connection with each other, with no probative value .

    INEC Counsel , Prof. Paul Ananaba, SAN, in his own submissions, tendered to the court his final written addresses dated Dec. 30, 2022 and filed same date, with replies on points of law dated Jan. 9 and filed Jan.11 respectively.

    Ananaba adopted all documents submitted as his final written address, saying the duty of INEC was to certify that the respondent, Adeleke, was qualified to contest the governorship election which they did .

    He said, “the petitioners complained of over- voting and infractions by picking 749 polling units to contend with from 1750 polling units, according to the first respondent witnessed (RW1) .

    ” If deduction of 1750 units was carried out from the total 3763 units in the state, the second respondent will still emerge as winner with over 20,000 votes.”

    Mr Onyechi Ikpeazu, Counsel to Gov. Ademola Adeleke, also adopted all the tendered documents filed as its final written address and urged the tribunal to dismiss the petitioners application against his client.

    Ikpeazu said that the argument against Adeleke’s certificates and eligibility to contest the governorship election had been addressed by the Court of Appeal.

    On the issue of over-voting claim, Ikpeazu told the court that certified true copies of documents of accreditation was done through the BVAS machines , adding that BVAS was the primary source of accreditation.

    He further argued that extraction from INEC data base was not same as extraction from the BVAS machines .

    Ikpeazu said that petitioners agents did not contest the results of any polling units on the day of election, despite that they also signed the results which were authentic .

    ” The entries in form EC8A tallied with figures on the forms as being contended by the petitioners .

    “You can not determine over voting proper without the application of the BVAS machines,” he said .

    Counsel to PDP, Mr Alex Iziyon, SAN, also adopted all written documents filed and submitted on point of laws.

    Iziyon said the issue of forgery of certificate as contended by the petitioners had been cleared in the judgment of the Court of Appeal and had no value.

  • Osun Poll: Governor Oyetola reacts to loss, says setback is temporary

    Osun Poll: Governor Oyetola reacts to loss, says setback is temporary

    Governor Adegboyega Oyetola of Osun State has described his re-election bid loss to opposition Peoples Democratic Party’s Ademola Adeleke as a temporary setback,

    Oyetola spoke at a meeting held inside the Osun Government House, Oke Fia, Osogbo, and well attended by many political appointees and party leaders, also said the loss was a test from God.

    The Iragbiji-born politician appealed to party members present at the event to return to their various wards and continue regular party activities, stressing that the defeat must not distract them from the bigger project ahead.

    “Rumours have been spreading around that I have run away after the election result was announced. We also heard the PDP saying I am trying to convert government assets to mine. Don’t worry about them, they are simply playing to the gallery.

    “I summoned all of you here to assure you that the present situation is just a temporary setback. It is a test of our resolve by God and we will continue to stand by him. Ours is God’s project and we shall not despair.

    “Go back to your various units and wards across the state and continue with regular party activities, and hold your meetings regularly. We have bigger projects ahead and we must not allow this temporary setback to distract us.”

    He further said security operatives have been instructed to maintain law and order, harping on the need to remain peaceful.

    “Some persons have been going around disrupting peoples’ daily activities. Do not be disturbed. I have instructed security operatives in the state to maintain law and order. We must continue to remain a peaceful state, nobody is allowed to misbehave,” he concluded.

  • Osun poll: Senator Adeleke, Davido, well wishers shed tears of joy +Video

    Osun poll: Senator Adeleke, Davido, well wishers shed tears of joy +Video

    A trending video clip has emerged online showing, Senator Ademola Adeleke, music maestro, Davido and other well wishers shedding tears as they await final results of the ongoing Osun guber election.

    TheNewsGuru.com, (TNG) reports the results released so far clearly indicate that Adeleke, PDP flag bearer in the Osun election is leading.

    Watch video below:

     

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  • ECOWAS indicts security agencies for 'creating problems' in Osun poll

    ECOWAS indicts security agencies for 'creating problems' in Osun poll

    The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) has said the international community and voters in Nigeria believe that security agents might have been used in creating problems for the electoral process.

    The Head of Political Affairs, ECOWAS, Dr Remi Ajibewa, said this when he and other ECOWAS officials visited the headquarters of the Independent National Electoral Commission, according to a statement on Sunday.

    Ajibewa said while INEC conducted the Osun governorship election professionally, the same could not be said of the security agencies.

    The statement, which was signed by the Chief Press Secretary to the INEC Chairman, Mr Rotimi Oyekanmi, read in part, “He (Ajibewa) commended the commission for the conduct of the Osun State governorship election but regretted that while INEC did its best, the international community and voters feared that security agents might have been used to create problems for the electoral process.”

    The ECOWAS official reiterated the need for INEC to carry all stakeholders, comprising political parties, the media, civil society organisations and security agencies, along as it prepares for the general elections. He said INEC should also work closely with the police to secure the electoral process.

    Gen. Francis Behanzin, who headed the ECOWAS delegation to INEC, said ECOWAS would deploy 200 observers in Nigeria to monitor the 2019 general elections which will begin in February next year.

    Behanzin said the purpose of the visit was to, among other things, find out about INEC’s preparation for the 2019 general elections and the challenges it was facing, in view of Nigeria’s large voter population of over 80 million.

    He described Nigeria as “a very big country”, pledging financial support for the conduct of the elections.

    Behanzin expressed gratitude to INEC Chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, for his contributions towards the improvement of the electoral process and sustenance of democracy across the West-African sub-region.

    In his remarks, Yakubu thanked Behanzin for his kind words and seized the opportunity to explain the commission’s preparations for the 2019 polls.

  • Osun poll: PDP demands immediate reconstitution of electoral tribunal

    The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has demanded the immediate reconstitution of the Osun State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal, saying that further delay could jeopardise the course of justice in the matter.
    The opposition party’s submission was predicated on reports that the All Progressives Congress (APC) have been mounting pressure on the judiciary to deny the PDP justice in the determination of the Osun governorship election dispute at the tribunal.
    The party therefore frowned on the disbanding of the panel by the President of the Court of Appeal, Justice Zainab Bulkachwa, a development which it said if not quickly addressed could send a bad signal on the integrity of the judiciary.
    The PDP noted that the President of the Court of Appeal should note that her disbanding of the panel without setting up a new one, shows a deliberate attempt to prevent the PDP from serving the APC and its candidate and to meet the constitutional 180 days timeframe for the determination of the case at the tribunal.
    In a statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Mr. Kola Ologbondiyan, PDP said it was aware that the original panel was disbanded after the APC and its candidate had failed to manipulate and compromise the members to frustrate the case.
    He stated: “The PDP therefore urges the President of the Court of Appeal not to bend to the proclivities of the APC and its candidate to bring the vouched reputation of the judiciary into a shameful disrepute in their desperation to hold onto a stolen mandate.
    “It is also imperative to state that the 2018 Osun governorship election has become the interest of not only Nigerians but also the global community. As such, every institution that has a role in ensuring fairness and justice, particularly, the judiciary, must rise to its responsibility and not succumb to unlawful and anti-people predilections.
    “While the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) was served, the APC and its candidate evaded service. Consequently, the PDP on Wednesday, October 17, 2018 applied for substituted service, which was slated for hearing today, Thursday, October 18, 2018, only to be informed that the panel has been disbanded on Wednesday without any reason and without providing a new panel to hear our matter.
    “Election petition matters are sui generis, with specific timeframe allotted to various stages up to the final determination. The failure to set up a new panel to timeously hear our application for substituted service on APC and its candidate smacks of a shenanigan to deny our party full justice in the matter.”
    The opposition party therefore invites Nigerians to note that in its lawful effort to reclaim its stolen mandate, PDP duly filed its petition on Tuesday, October 15, 2018 in accordance with section 285 (6) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) which prescribed that judgment must be delivered on or before 180 days.

  • Osun Poll: Stop crying foul, nobody forced you to commit exam malpractices, APC tells Adeleke

    Osun Poll: Stop crying foul, nobody forced you to commit exam malpractices, APC tells Adeleke

    The All Progressives Congress has asked the governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party in Osun State, Senator Ademola Adeleke, to face his trial over alleged examination malpractices and leave the party out of his woes.
    The APC said Adeleke should blame himself for allegedly getting involved in examination fraud, stating that the party did not ask him to commit examination malpractices. which he is being accused of by the police.
    The Director of Publicity, Research, and Strategy of the APC in Osun State, Mr. Kunle Oyatomi, said this in a statement made available to our correspondent in Osogbo on Wednesday in reaction to the allegation levelled against the party by the PDP candidate.
    The statement read, “Senator Ademola Adeleke should face his problem squarely and stop looking for props and excuses to justify his inadequacies. APC did not ask him to commit the examination fraud.
    “That is a matter with the police. And we are not police prosecutors. If he has been taken to court by the police, how is that the business with the APC?
    He was the one who went to the tribunal and he has a responsibility to diligently prosecute his case at the tribunal. We cannot stop the tribunal from working, not even Ademola himself can stop the tribunal.
    “So, it is immature, pedestrian and patently wrong for Ademola to accuse the APC and police of conspiring to deprive him of the ability to prosecute his own case. Perhaps the PDP candidate is too much engrossed in entertainment to find the time to understand how the tribunal and the court processes work. He should try and update himself, so as to know what to do, rather than embarrassing himself and his party.”
    Adeleke had accused the APC and the police of colluding to prevent him from prosecuting his election petition against the APC by bringing up trump-up charges against him.
     
     
     
     

  • Osun poll: PDP moves to reconcile Adeleke, Ogunbiyi, other aggrieved aspirants

    The National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party, Prince Uche Secondus, on Monday, in Abuja, met with the party’s governorship candidate in the September 22 Osun State governorship election, Senator Ademola Adeleke and some aggrieved aspirants.

    Also at the meeting were members of the National Working Committee of the party, Dr Akin Ogunbiyi, Senator Akinlabi Olasunkanmi and Senator Felix Ogunwale, among others.

    The meeting, which was held at the Presidential Campaign office of the party popularly called Legacy Building at the Maitama District of Abuja, was aimed at pacifying the aggrieved aspirants, especially Ogunbiyi, who came a close second at the party’s primary.

    Adeleke polled 1,569 votes, seven higher than those of his main challenger, Ogunbiyi, who scored 1, 562 in the primary.

    Ogunbiyi, however, challenged the outcome of the primary before the PDP Appeal Panel, claiming it was manipulated in favour of Adeleke.

    However, his petition was thrown out for what the panel described as lacking in merit.

    Investigations by our correspondent nevertheless showed that the national leadership of the party felt that there was the need to douse the tension in the opposition camp as it prepared for the election.

    A source at the meeting, who spoke with our correspondent after the meeting which ended in the evening, described its outcome as fruitful.

    He said that a committee of eight, made up of four from both the side of Adeleke and Ogunbiyi, was set up with a mandate to discuss terms of agreements between the two camps.

    It was gathered that the NWC led by Secondus first met with Ogunbiyi and his group before Adeleke was later invited to the meeting, where he was said to have appealed to co- aspirants to work with him.

    The source said, “We were surprised at the peaceful conduct of everyone at the meeting. Everyone spoke in favour of the party and the need to work together to win the election.

    “Adeleke also told the gathering that he would run an all-inclusive campaign and government if elected. He promised not to sideline anyone.

    “At the end of discussions, we agreed that a committee made up of eight people be set up. The committee is expected to submit its report to the NWC on Tuesday. We are serious about winning the election.”