In a unanimous ruling, a three-member panel of Justices, held that Adeleke won the 16 July 2022 governorship election.
The appellant court, in its lead judgement that was read by Justice Mohammed Lawal, also awarded N500, 000 cost against the APC, and its candidate, Gboyega Oyetola.
Adeleke of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) polled 403,371 votes to defeat the then-incumbent governor, Adegboyega Oyetola of the All Progressives Congress (APC) who got 375,027 votes in the July 16, 2022 election.
Oyetola, the immediate-past governor of the state, who came second had filed a petition at the Osun State Election Petition Tribunal in Osogbo, challenging Adeleke’s victory.
The Tribunal had upheld the allegation of over-voting in the areas won by Adeleke and consequently, declared Oyetola the winner of the poll after deducting “unlawful votes” from the PDP’s scores.
But Adeleke had appealed against the decision of the lower court, urging it to set aside the Tribunal’s decision and re-affirm his victory.
In its ruling tody, Friday, March 24, 2023, the Court of Appeal held that the tribunal was “wrong to reach the conclusion that there was over-voting during the state governorship election held on 16 July 2022.”