The Osun State All Progressives Congress (APC) on Friday, described the Supreme Court judgment that affirmed Gov. Gboyega Oyetola as the winner of September 22 governorship election in the state as “historic’’.
Reports that in the lead judgment by Justice Bode Rhodes-Vivour, the apex court declared that the absence of the judge who read the majority decision of the election tribunal made the judgment a nullity.
The judge upheld the decision of the Court of Appeal, ruling that the proper thing to have done in the absence of Justice Peter Obiorah was to start the entire trial afresh.
Reacting, APC, in a statement by its Publicity Secretary, Mr. Kunle Oyatomi, on Friday in Osogbo, said that God had used the highest legal authority of the land to proclaim the truth that Oyetola lawfully won the election.
According to him, the Progressive God that Osun people are serving heard their prayers and granted their request.
The statement read: “Our fears for the calamity that might have befallen the state of Osun, if the PDP had been declared winner, have now been assuaged.
“We are overjoyed for this amazing grace.
“Those who had wished for a different outcome have a lesson to learn here; that there is a natural limit to which you can stretch evil.
“It was this limit the PDP got in their attempt to stage a miraculous upset at last September’s election. Subsequent efforts to spin the law at the tribunal, unraveled at the Court of Appeal, finally died at the Supreme Court.
“The details are now history. This is not simply a victory for the party alone; it is a victory for the good people of the state of Osun.
“May the good Lord give the governor the wisdom, strength and foresight to expand the legacy he inherited, and set Osun on the irreversible course that God and the entire people of Osun will be proud of.”
Adekele vs Oyetola: PDP reacts to Supreme Court judgement
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Osun State has said that it has accepted the Supreme Court judgment that affirmed Gov. Gboyega Oyetola as the winner of the September 2018 governorship election in the State.
Mr Soji Adagunodo, the State PDP Chairman, in a telephone interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Osogbo said since the Supreme court was the apex court in the land, there was nowhere the party could appeal again.
Reports that the Supreme Court in a split judgment of five to two on Friday upheld the election of Oyetola.
Adagunodo said the minority judgment dealt with the constitutional issue of the matter, which according to him, was the most important while the majority judgment dealt with the technical issues.
“Since the Supreme Court is the highest court in the land, we don’t have anything to say than to accept the verdict.
“The judgment is a split judgment.
“The majority judgment dealt with technical matter and we expected the judges to have called for the file of the lower court.
“Meanwhile, the majority judgment dealt with constitutional matter which is important to our democracy.
“The court has ruled and we don’t have anything to say than to accept the verdict since there is nowhere to go again,’’ Adagunodo said.
He, however, appealed to party members to be calm and peaceful.
Meanwhile, Osun Concerned Citizens, a socio-political group, has described the judgment as a victory for democracy and justice.
Mr Yaya Ademola, the General Secretary of the group, in a statement in Osogbo said the legal battle was over.
“Now that the battle is over, Gov. Gboyega Oyetola should be magnanimous in victory and make use of the best hands, irrespective of political party affiliation.
“The vanquished should make themselves available for the bigger project of Osun development while preparing for future elections.
“People are hereby enjoined to go about their normal duties as Gov. Oyetola drives us to the next level of continuity in social and infrastructural development,’’ Ademola said.
Also speaking, Mr Kamil Oyedele, a former member of the State House of Assembly, said the Supreme Court judgment was a victory for democracy.
Oyedele said it was now clear that Oyetola won the election, adding that the opposition party should support the governor in moving the state forward
