The Supreme Court on Tuesday, May 9, affirmed that Senator Ademola Adeleke is the duly elected governor of Osun state.
A five-person panel in the apex court dismissed the appeal by former Governor Adegboyega Oyetola and his party, the All Progressives Congress (APC), for lacking merit.
Also, all five grounds were resolved in favour of the respondent, Governor Adeleke.
The Appeal Court had earlier ruled in favour of Adeleke, prompting Oyetola to approach the Supreme Court.
In delivering the judgment, the Supreme Court justices gave six significant reasons why the verdict favoured Adeleke.
Of significance is the apex court’s reference to the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System, BVAS, as an essential tool for determining election integrity.
The apex court justices noted that:
1). Since the BVAS is the foundation of the Appellants’ case, failure to produce the BVAS was fatal.
2). The Supreme Court ruled that Adeleke ought not to have even defended any of the allegations of Oyetola because they are based on hearsay.
3). The apex court stated that INEC regulations do not provide for transportation of accredited voters to the database except snapped pictures of results for form EC8A to the IREV
4). Supreme Court noted that it adopted BVAS as the primary source for the election results in Osun state, while exhibit BVR filed by Oyetola was dismissed.
5). The apex court stated that BVAS does not operate in isolation of the voter register; therefore, it ruled that the voters register is relevant to the conduct of the election.
6). The Supreme Court affirmed that Adeleke’s qualification was long settled.