No political party or candidate has filed a petition challenging the outcome of the August 15 Osun State governorship election, following the expiration of the 21-day period allowed for election petitions.
According to The PUNCH, filing window closed on Saturday, with none of the 14 parties whose candidates lost the election approaching the Osun State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal.
The Independent National Electoral Commission had declared the incumbent governor, Ademola Adeleke, the winner of the election after he secured 511,067 votes on the Accord Party platform.
His closest challenger, the All Progressives Congress candidate, Bola Oyebamiji, polled 444,815 votes.
Although 15 political parties participated in the election, no challenge was lodged at the tribunal within the constitutionally stipulated period.
The tribunal registry, which was opened shortly after the election at the Osun State High Court premises in Oke Fia, Osogbo, remained accessible on Saturday, the final day for filing petitions.
However, a tribunal official confirmed that no petition had been received.
Attempts to obtain the position of the Osun State APC on the development were unsuccessful, as calls to the party’s spokesperson, Kola Olabisi, were unanswered. A WhatsApp message sent to him also had not received a response as of Sunday.
A member of the APC legal team, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to speak publicly, said the party had grounds to contest the result but chose not to pursue litigation.
He said, “Not that we don’t have grounds to challenge Adeleke’s election. There are good grounds to challenge the outcome of the poll.
“But the party hierarchy and the legal team, after deliberations, resolved not to file any petition. Power belongs to God, and He gives whoever He wants. We decided not to file any petition in the interest of peace.”
The Chairman of the Osun State Accord Party, Victor Akande, described the decision by the opposition candidates not to approach the tribunal as a demonstration of political maturity.
Akande said, “We appreciate the maturity of the candidates of the opposition for not challenging the outcome of the poll.
“That itself is good for democracy, if an election stops at the poll. The idea of going to court to regain a mandate is sometimes not good for democracy.”
Similarly, the Social Democratic Party governorship candidate, Olugbenga Ajala, said he considered the election sufficiently credible and accepted the result.
Ajala said, “The election came, and it’s gone. Fair enough; we have to be content with the outcome of the poll because we believe the best candidate won.”
He added that his party would have sought legal redress if it had found significant shortcomings in the electoral process.
“If the election has not been fair enough, we would have headed for the tribunal, but we give thanks to God that the process can be seen by all to be very fair. That is why no party or candidate is coming forward with any petition,” he stated.
With the deadline now elapsed without any petition, Adeleke’s victory remains unchallenged at the election tribunal.
