Osun guber Tribunal: PDP hails Adeleke’s victory

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has hailed the verdict of the Osun State Governorship Election Tribunal, which on Friday declared the party’s candidate, Sen. Ademola Adeleke as winner of the Sept. 22, 2018 governorship election in Osun.

A statement issued by PDP National Publicity Secretary, Kola Ologbondiyan described the judgment as a victory for democracy and the will of the people.

Ologbondiyan said that the judgment was a clear indicator that no matter how evil and injustice appeared to thrive, the truth must always prevail at the end of the day.

“Nigerians have accepted democracy as a way of life and a form of government that suits the multi-plurality of our nation.

“The spontaneous jubilation that greeted this judgment is therefore a direct indication that it is in consonant with the wishes and aspiration of Nigerians across the board.

“For those who have been desperate to destroy our democracy, this judgment has proven to them that their shenanigans will always come to no avail,’’ Ologbondiyan said.

He commended the judiciary for standing upright in the defence of democracy.

“This verdict, which reverberates across our nation, points to the fact that the truth will always prevail.

“It is also an indication that our party, the PDP, will recover all our stolen mandates in the 2019 general elections, particularly, the Presidential mandate, which Nigerians freely gave to our candidate, Abubakar.

“Furthermore, all our candidates who have already won their elections, but whose victories are being manipulated by anti-democratic forces, must take solace in the words of the Osun election petition panel.

“The solace is that once valid votes have been declared and a winner emerges by majority of votes, a rerun is illegal.’’

He congratulated Adeleke, the people of Osun as well as all lovers of democracy across the country for the triumph of justice.

The Osun State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal sitting in Abuja had on Friday declared Adeleke winner.

The three-member panel said during its ruling that the rerun election that held on Sept. 27, 2018, was illegal.

The tribunal, therefore, deducted the votes scored by the APC candidate, Gboyega Oyetola, in the rerun after declaring the rerun illegal.

The tribunal said Adeleke won the election at the first ballot on Sept. 22 and the rerun that INEC devised to reach a final conclusion a week later was illegal.

“The declaration of Oyetola is null and void,” the tribunal ruled in a majority decision with one member dissenting.