Reactions have continued to trail the victory of the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Sen. Ademola Adeleke at the Osun Governorship Election Petition Tribunal.
Some of the legal practitioners, who spoke to the Next Edition on the judgment, applauded the verdict, describing it as a plus for the nation’s democracy.
The Publicity Secretary of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Lagos State Chapter, Mr. Taofik Gani; Prominent lawyer and ex-president of Aka Ikenga, Chief Goddy Uwazurike and Senior Lecturer, Faculty of Law, University of Port Harcourt, Dr. Emeka Amaechi, in their separate reactions commended the judiciary for the landmark judgment.
Gani, welcomed the ruling and described it as a good sign for the nation’s democracy, urging politicians to learn to accept defeat.
“It is good omen for our democracy. It aptly denies overzealous INEC officials the audacity to unjustly cancel votes validly cast and officially announced.
“The appellate courts should also do justice. The Osun people are watching. Above all politicians must learn to accept defeat, “he said.
Uwazurike, said that the judiciary has remained the hope of the common man, stressing that the will of the people must be respected in every contest.
“I will say that justice was not only done but was seen to have been done. The Osun matter is in the public domain. The average person in the society saw a brazen display of impunity.
“The voting public in Osun voted in a way the powers that be did not expect. So all caution was thrown to the wind in order to obtain a questionable victory. I am glad that the judiciary is the last hope of the common man. The will of the people must be respected,” he said.”
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In the same vein, Amaechi, described Adeleke’s victory at the tribunal as good for democracy, adding that it would strengthen democratic system in the country.
He said, “It is a good judgment, which solidifies democracy in Nigeria. Regarding the antics of INEC’S returning officers, I think that they acted based on what they believed that the Electoral Act stipulated.
“But then, the beauty of electoral petitions is that such interpretation will be subjected through the purifying fire of litigation in order to enable INEC and the electorate to understand the actual intention of our lawmakers in enacting the Act.”
In declaring Adeleke winner of the election, the tribunal had ruled that the PDP candidate won the election at the first ballot on September 22, 2018 and that the rerun that INEC devised to reach a final conclusion a week later was illegal.
Recall that Adeleke scored 254, 698 votes to beat Gboyega Oyetola of the APC who scored 254,345 votes. However, Prof Joseph Fuwape who announced the results said that INEC won’t pronounce Adeleke the winner of the contest because the 353 vote margin was less than number of cancelled votes which stood at 3,498 votes, a decision which the PDP described as daylight robbery.
Political watchers have argued that the outcome of Friday’s tribunal’s judgment may not have been a plus to Fuwape’s enviable reputation.
They also contended that INEC has a lot of work to do in order to renew the optimism of the majority of Nigerians that it is actually the impartial umpire.