Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has appealed the judgement of the Election Petition Tribunal that nullified the victory of Governor Ademola Adeleke of Osun State, Southwest Nigeria in the July 16 governorship poll.
Gatekeepers News reports that the Notice of Appeal dated 30th January 2023, filed before the Court of Appeal, Akure Division, was obtained in Osogbo on Wednesday.
INEC listed 44 grounds of appeal and asked the court, to set aside the judgement of the Tribunal.
The Commission also asked the Court of Appeal to dismiss the petition filed by All Progressives Congress and its candidate at the poll, Adegboyega Oyetola, for lacking in merit.
Gatekeepers News earlier reported that a Tribunal panel led by Justice Tertsea Kume nullified Adeleke’s victory and declared Oyetola as the duly elected governor at the poll in its judgement of January 27, 2023.
According to the panel, over-voting was established in 744 polling units and deducted the excess votes from the votes garnered by Adeleke and Oyetola.
However, another member of the panel, Justice A. Ogbuli, while delivering the minority judgement, dismissed APC’s petition and upheld Adeleke’s victory at the poll.
In the Notice of Appeal signed by counsel to INEC, Prof. Paul Ananaba (SAN) and 17 others, the Commission further challenged the decision of the Tribunal on the grounds that the panel erred in law by claiming that Adeleke did not score the majority of the lawful votes, saying the petitioners only called two witnesses who did not prove that the PDP candidate did not win the election.
The INEC added that the Tribunal erred in law by using a table contained in the final written address of the petitioners to determine overvoting and deducted votes scored by the respondent.
INEC further dismissed the Tribunal’s claim that because it issued different accreditation reports, its conduct was tantamount to tampering with official documents.
The electoral body said the allegation that it tampered with the official records was a criminal allegation that must be proven beyond a reasonable doubt, noting that there was no proof it tampered with any records before the panel.
