No Petition! Adeleke Escapes Tribunal Battle After Osun Poll

Osun State Governor Ademola Adeleke’s victory in the August 15 governorship election will not face a challenge at the election petition tribunal after the deadline for filing petitions expired without any case being submitted.

According to Ireporter Online, none of the 14 political parties that lost the governorship election filed a petition challenging the outcome within the 21-day period provided by law.

The deadline reportedly expired on Saturday, with officials at the tribunal registry confirming that no political party or candidate had approached the tribunal to contest the result.

Adeleke was declared winner of the election by the Independent National Electoral Commission after polling 511,067 votes.

His closest challenger, Bola Oyebamiji of the All Progressives Congress, secured 444,815 votes in the election, which featured candidates from 15 political parties.

Following the announcement of the result, an election petition tribunal office was opened at the Osun State High Court premises in Oke Fia, Osogbo, to receive petitions arising from the governorship poll.

However, checks at the registry on the final day for filing petitions reportedly showed that no candidate or political party had submitted a case challenging Adeleke’s victory.

The expiration of the statutory window means the governor’s victory has gone unchallenged at the governorship election petition tribunal.

Reacting to the development, the Osun Accord Chairman, Victor Akande, commended opposition parties and their candidates for accepting the outcome of the election.

Akande described their decision as an indication of political maturity and said democracy could be strengthened when electoral contests were resolved at the ballot box.

Similarly, the Social Democratic Party governorship candidate, Olugbenga Ajala, said he saw no reason to challenge the result at the tribunal.

Ajala maintained that he considered the election credible and fair, adding that his party would have approached the tribunal if it believed serious irregularities had affected the outcome.

He said the acceptance of the result by the candidates and political parties reflected their confidence in the electoral process and the outcome of the Osun State governorship election.