Jubilation in Osun as tribunal declares Adeleke governor

Willy Eya, Clement Adeyi And Seye Ojo

There was wild jubilation yesterday in Ede, the country home of Senator Ademola Adeleke, who was declared winner of the September 22 governorship election in Osun by the state’s election petition tribunal sitting in Abuja.

A crowd of excited family members, friends, PDP supporters, youths, market women, artisans among others thronged the family home of the Adelekes to celebrate the victory.

They chanted diverse victory  songs rendered in Yoruba language and danced away with chanting voices: “PDP, power, “PDP, power,” “Victory at last,” “God has done it,”  “Justice has prevailed.”

Party supporters also trooped to the streets in Osogbo singing, dancing and appreciating God for the victory. There was relative peace across the state, with assurance of safety of lives and property by the state government.  Adeleke’s elder sister, Mrs Dupe Adeleke-Sanni, in a chat with Saturday Sun commended the judiciary for restoring what she described as the stolen mandate to the people of the state and the family.

Adeleke-Sanni  dedicated the victory to God and his late brother, the late former governor of the state, Isiaka Adeleke, enthusing that the victory was well deserved.

The National Chairman of the PDP, Mr Uche Secondus, congratulated Adeleke for his victory at the election tribunal. In a statement by his media aide, Mr Ike Abonyi, he said that the judiciary should be hailed for standing up for the truth by declaring Adeleke winner of the Sept. 22, 2018 governorship election in Osun. He said that the Osun Governorship Election Petition Tribunal, by its landmark ruling, had helped to restore hope to Nigerians that all stolen mandates shall be recovered and retuned intact to the rightful winners.

“The ruling has shown that all hope is not lost about this country, as the judiciary continues to show really that it’s the last hope of the people’’, he said.

In the same vein, the Coalition of United Political Parties (CUPP) also described the judgment as victory for democracy and affirmation of the supremacy of the sanctity of the ballot. CUPP, in a statement issued by its Spokesperson, Ikenga Ugochinyere, said that the tribunal had given hope to Nigerians. “Today’s judgment has reinforced the hope of the opposition that there are still men and women on the bench who, even in the face of rampage to destroy the judiciary, can still stand firm and do the right thing.”

The Presidential Candidate of the PDP in the 2019 elections, Atiku Abubakar described the judiciary as truly the defender of Nigeria’s democracy. Atiku Abubakar who made the assertion in a statement by his media aide, Mr Paul Ibe said the judgment indicated that indeed the judiciary was the last refuge for the common man.

Also, his running mate, Peter Obi put out a similar tweet which read: “Congratulations Senator Ademola Adeleke. Power to the People!” Another PDP chieftain and senator-elect, Francis Fadahunsi said Adeleke’s victory was “for the suffering masses of the Osun people.”

A chieftain of the party, Dr Akin Ogunbiyi, who also applauded the victory said: “The two-to-one split decision by a three-man panel of the tribunal which handed victory to the PDP and its candidate, Senator Ademola Adeleke, in the September 22, 2018 governorship election, was a confirmation that the truth cannot be hidden for life.” The Osun State Chapter of the PDP expressed delight in the victory of Adeleke.  The party’s Chairman, Soji Adagunodo in a chat with Saturday Sun in Osogbo, said the victory was an act of God.

He commended the Nigerian judiciary, saying that they did a good job by standing for the truth. But the APC has rejected the verdict, saying it would appeal the case. The party’s Director of Publicity, Research and Strategy, Kunle Oyatomi said in a statement said the Tribunal verdict has declared Adeleke the winner of the election in the state but that it cannot stand a superior legal scrutiny.

Meanwhile, in the wake of the declaration of Adeleke,  the  Osun State Government commended the support of the people for the mutual progress of the state since the administration of Governor Gboyega Oyetola of the APC. In a statement on Friday by the Secretary to the State Government, Wole Oyebamiji, he said that the judgement had been put on appeal. “The State of Osun wishes to appreciate the teeming support of the majority of the people in all things essential for mutual progress. As it is, the administration of His Excellency, Mr. Adegboyega Oyetola, Governor, State of Osun, wishes to assure the people that the judgment of the Election Tribunal has been put on appeal,” Oyebamiji said.

He assured the people of the state of safety of lives and property, insisting that the government of the state remained the only legitimate  government that had the authority to govern the state. The Deputy President of the Senate, Ike Ekweremadu, congratulated Senator Adeleke and the good people of Osun on the victory. Ekweremadu, who took to the Tribunal’s verdict on his social media handle @Iamekweremadu, noted that the constitution amendments to ensure that unlawful mandates were not enjoyed for long were paying of

The Governor-elect of Oyo State, Mr. Seyi Makinde, also commended the judiciary for declaring Adeleke the winner of the governorship poll in Osun State, saying the Nigerian judiciary may end up being the beacon of democracy in the country in the foreseeable future. This was contained a statement issued by Makinde’s spokesperson, Prince Dotun Oyelade, in Ibadan and made available to journalists on Friday evening.

Makinde stated that “the pronouncement of the Election Tribunal over the Osun State gubernatorial election will reverberate through history because the judgment was not only a validation of an obvious plebiscite, but it was a resistance to jack-knee democracy, which President Muhammadu Buhari is desperately spreading across the land.”

In the same vein, the PDP in Oyo State has also hailed Adeleke’s victory at the election petition tribunal. The party noted that the governor-elect in Oyo State has always been optimistic that the tribunal would return the “stolen mandate” of PDP and return Adeleke, as the winner of the poll.

The three-man tribunal in a lead judgement by Justice Peter Obiora, yesterday declared that Senator Adeleke of the PDP won the governorship election.

The tribunal held that the APC and its candidate, Governor Oyetola was not validly returned.

The tribunal further held that INEC should withdraw the certificate of return issued to APC’s Adegboyega  Oyetola and a new certificate of return issued to the candidate of the PDP, Adeleke as the winner of the governorship election.