The Court of Appeal sitting in Abuja has delivered a judgement overturning the judgement of the tribunal sacking Governor Ademola Adeleke of Osun State.

In its unanimous decision today, the three-member panel led by Justice M. F. Shuaibu, the appellate court ruled that the issue of over-voting upon which the lower court’s decision was made was unfounded and declared Adeleke winner of the election.

Having held that Adeleke’s appeal was meritorious, the court awarded a cost of N500,000 against Oyetola and his party.

After listening to all arguments by the parties on March 13, the court had reserved the delivery of the judgement until today.

READ ALSO: EXPLAINER: Will Adeleke Leave Office Today?

Resolving some of the issues raised in the appeal, the court also held that the lower court erred when it held an issue of certificate forgery against Adekele, the same having been decided by the Court of Appeal before.

Adeleke participated in the election on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and Oyetola was the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC).

FIJ earlier reported that Osun State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal sitting in Osogbo, the state capital, sacked Adeleke on January 27 from office after finding that there was believable evidence that over-voting occurred in some local government areas during the July 16, 2022 governorship election.

More details to follow…