APC accuses Adeleke of sponsoring protests, PDP kicks

The Osun State chapter of the All Progressives Congress on Sunday claimed it sponsored protests in the state against the state’s election petition verdict that had fired the state’s governor, Senator Ademola Adeleke, on Friday.

The party went on to say that the protests allegedly sponsored by Adeleke and his party, the People’s Democratic Party, could worsen their case rather than add positive value to it in the Court of Appeals.

But in a response, acting chairman of Osun PDP, Dr. Akindele Adekunle, that the protests indicated that the people rejected the panel’s verdict.

In August 2022, the immediately former governor of the state, Gboyega Oyetola, and the APC contested at the tribunal the victory of Adeleke, the PDP gubernatorial candidate in the July 16, 2022 gubernatorial poll in the state.

In its verdict on Friday, two of the tribunal’s three-member jury ruled that Oyetola could prove that some polling places were overvoting.

Tetsea Kume, who read the majority decision, believed that INEC did not materially comply with the Constitution and the provisions of the Electoral Act.

On Saturday, there were protests in Osogbo, the state capital, by PDP supporters, who criticized the verdict.

Many business owners in the city did not open for fear of being attacked by thugs amid the unrest.

The PDP demonstrators marched through Osogbo singing songs denouncing the nullification of the governor’s victory.

APC gives Adeleke a foul

On Sunday, the acting chairman of the APC, Mr. Tajudeen Lawal, in a statement obtained in Osogbo, expressed concern that the PDP chose to attack the judiciary simply because the tribunal’s ruling did not go well.

It went on to read in part: “I must expressly state here that it is still within the scope of your basic human right to approach the Court of Appeals for redress rather than support violent protests in some cities across the state.

“Based on Friday’s tribunal ruling, it is absolutely illegal for Adeleke to talk about a mandate as the authentic election results of the July 16, 2022 gubernatorial elections have expressly shown that the PDP candidate has no mandate to flaunt claiming a mandate.

“It should be known that the avoidance of overvotes, on the basis of which Adeleke was allegedly declared the winner by the INEC, as determined by the tribunal, is nothing but unfair play which, if not reversed, could set a very bad precedent create for our democracy.

“Regardless of the magnitude of Adeleke’s sponsored protests and slander and disparagement of the judiciary, his current status as a dismissed governor has the stamp of the law of the land.

“The protests sponsored by Adeleke had no effect whatsoever, because there is no connection between justice and sentiment, because the law will always defend its case without the sky coming down.”

But Adekunle, responding to APC’s claim, said the protests were proof that Osun people rejected the “Buga verdict.”

“The demonstration of support for Governor Adeleke was spontaneous and a direct rebellion against an attempt to steal a popular mandate. Our people came out and said no to that Kangaroo judgment.

“Nobody celebrated the malicious statement. In towns and villages, Osun people voluntarily rejected a bunch of electoral armed robbers.

“So we expect APC to be angry. They are unhappy because they didn’t get popular support,” Adekunle concluded.