No petition filed as 21-day window for challenging Osun poll closes

The 21-day window for challenging the result of Osun’s August 15 governorship election closed without a single petition reaching the election tribunal.

Fourteen parties lost the poll, but none filed a challenge before the deadline on Saturday. The tribunal registry remained open at the State High Court premises in Oke Fia, Osogbo, when The PUNCH visited, but a staff member said no petition had been received.

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Not that we don’t have grounds to challenge Adeleke’s election. There are good grounds to challenge the outcome of the poll.

The Independent National Electoral Commission declared incumbent Governor Ademola Adeleke the winner. Running on the Accord platform, Adeleke secured 511,067 votes, while his closest challenger, All Progressives Congress candidate Bola Oyebamiji, received 444,815. Fifteen parties fielded candidates in the election.

An APC legal team member, speaking anonymously because he was not authorised to comment, said the party had grounds to contest the result but decided against filing a petition. “Not that we don’t have grounds to challenge Adeleke’s election. There are good grounds to challenge the outcome of the poll,” he said.

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Power belongs to God, and He gives whoever He wants. We decided not to file any petition in the interest of peace.

He added that the party hierarchy and legal team had decided not to proceed “in the interest of peace,” saying, “Power belongs to God, and He gives whoever He wants.”

Osun Accord chairman Victor Akande described the opposition candidates’ decision as political maturity. The APC’s public position was not immediately available, as calls to its spokesperson went unanswered and a WhatsApp message had not received a response by the time the report was filed.

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We appreciate the maturity of the candidates of the opposition for not challenging the outcome of the poll.