Senator Shehu Sani has described the sacking of Governor Ademola Adeleke by the Osun State Election Petition Tribunal as “a beheading of peoples’ mandate by judicial voodoo”.
Voiceofnaija.ng had earlier reported that the tribunal nullified the election of Adeleke of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and declared the former Governor, Gboyega Oyetola of the All Progressives Congress (APC) the winner of the 16 July governorship election.
On Friday, the Justice Tetse Kume-led panel in its judgment established that there was over-voting on the examination of Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) manipulation and that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) did not comply substantially with the constitution and the provisions of the Electoral Act.
Reacting to the ruling of the tribunal, Senator Sani described the judgment as a judicial magic and beheading of peoples’ mandate which according to him, is a dangerous signal for the forthcoming 2023 general elections.
Sani, who said the ruling marked a sad day for democracy in the country, wrote on his Twitter page saying: “Osun state, a dangerous signal for the 2023 elections. A peoples’ mandate beheaded by Judicial voodoo. Osun state; judicial magic. A sad day for Democracy.”
The Coalition of United Political Parties, on Friday, also rejected the verdict of the Osun State governorship election petitions tribunal which sacked Governor Ademola Adeleke, describing it as a “black market purchased judgment”.
A statement issued on Friday by the Co-National Spokesperson for CUPP, Mark Adebayo, however, expressed optimism that justice would be done.
He said: “We are not perturbed because justice will eventually be done on this case. The same way that fuel scarcity is biting hard across the country and motorists have to resort to the black market to buy fuel is the same way that we consider this judgment as a black market purchased judgment that we are confident will eventually be overturned by higher courts.
“It is a temporary attempt to rob the Osun State people of their sovereign will and the judicial processes through its remedial mechanisms will do real justice to correct this anomalous injustice in the name of judgement. That it was a split decision judgment says a lot about its lack of merit.
“The mandate willfully given by the Osun State people to Governor Adeleke remains intact and any attempt to steal it will fail woefully.”