Osun State Elections Petitions Tribunal on Friday affirmed the election of Rauf Aregbesola of the All Progressives Congress (APC) as Governor of Osun State.
The Tribunal dismissed the petition of his close rival in the August 9, 2014 governorship election, Iyiola Omisore of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
Justice Elizabeth Ikpejime, Chairman of the Tribunal read out the judgment which lasted for over seven hours.
The Tribunal dismissed the prayers of Omisore alleging over voting, non-accreditation of voters and other irregularities, saying the experts called by the petitioner could not proof their case beyond reasonable doubt.
Justice Ikpejime held on behalf of others that Aregbesola, who scored 394,684 votes, was was validly elected while Omisore was credited with 292,747.
Governor Aregbesola reacted top the ruling this way, “It is pertinent to state here that ab initio, those who went to the tribunal knew that the petition lacked any substance whatsoever. It is a share waste of the time of the judiciary. And they knew!
“One is appalled by the fact that a candidate who knew that the entire state rejected him and the political party he represents; performed abysmally in the build-up to the election, during the election and compounded his woes by failing to meet up with the required deadline set by the rule of the court, would be taunting us with any fake victory.
“We must salute the courage of our people that in the face of overwhelming intimidation, harassment of unimaginable proportion, they stood by their government and ensured re-election. This is a further affirmation of the fact that any government that makes the people the centre of its policies will always find the people solidly behind it.”
