Osun poll: No petition filed as 21-day tribunal window closes

The Osun governorship election petition tribunal has received no petition challenging the outcome of the August 15 governorship poll during the 21-day window stipulated by the constitution.

The 21-day window for filing petitions to challenge the outcome of the poll ended on Saturday, and none of the 14 parties who got defeated in the poll challenged the result.

The PUNCH reports that the incumbent Osun State Governor, Ademola Adeleke, who contested the poll on the platform of the Accord, was declared elected by the State Returning Officer of the Independent National Electoral Commission, Prof Joshua Ogunwole, in the August 15 governorship poll.

Adeleke won the governorship poll with a total of 511,067 votes to defeat his closest challenger, Bola Oyebamiji of the All Progressives Congress, who polled 444,815 votes.

Fifteen political parties fielded candidates in the poll.

Shortly after the results of the poll were announced, the office of the Election Petition Tribunal that will hear matters opened for operation on the premises of the State High Court in Oke Fia, Osogbo, Osun State.

On Saturday, the last day for filing petitions challenging the outcome of the poll, The PUNCH visited the tribunal office, where the registry was open for business.

However, a staff member who responded to enquiries told our correspondents that no petition had been received.

Efforts to get the reaction of the Osun APC to the development failed, as calls to the party’s spokesperson, Kola Olabisi, went unanswered.

A response to a WhatsApp message sent to him seeking the party’s position on the refusal of opposition parties to challenge Adeleke’s victory was still being awaited as of the time of filing this report on Sunday.

Speaking exclusively with The PUNCH on Sunday, a member of the APC legal team, who craved anonymity since he was not authorised to comment on the matter, said the party refused to challenge Adeleke’s victory in the interest of peace.

“Not that we don’t have grounds to challenge Adeleke’s election. There are good grounds to challenge the outcome of the poll. But the party hierarchy and the legal team, after deliberations, resolved not to file any petition.

“Power belongs to God, and He gives whoever He wants. We decided not to file any petition in the interest of peace,” he said.

Speaking on the development, the Osun Accord chairman, Victor Akande, said in a telephone interview that by refusing to challenge Adeleke’s victory at the poll, the opposition candidates had demonstrated political maturity.

We appreciate the maturity of the candidates of the opposition for not challenging the outcome of the poll.

“That itself is good for democracy, if an election stops at the poll. The idea of going to court to regain a mandate is sometimes not good for democracy,” Akande said.

Also commenting, the governorship candidate of the Social Democratic Party, Olugbenga Ajala, said in a telephone interview on Sunday that the election and the processes leading to it were considered fair enough.

Ajala said, “The election came, and it’s gone. Fair enough; we have to be content with the outcome of the poll because we believe the best candidate won, and we also believe that the president is fair enough.

“If the election has not been fair enough, we would have headed for the tribunal, but we give thanks to God that the process can be seen by all to be very fair. That is why no party or candidate is coming forward with any petition.”