Festus Keyamo, Minister of State for Labour and Employment, has reacted to the Supreme Court victory of Osun State Governor Ademola Adeleke.
WITHIN NIGERIA reported that the apex court on Tuesday affirmed Adeleke, who was the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the July 16, 2022, gubernatorial election, as the Osun Governor.
The Supreme Court’s five-member panel, led by Justice John Okoro, upheld the Court of Appeal’s decision, which confirmed Adeleke as governor of Osun state.
The Supreme Court ruled in a decision read by Justice Emmanuel Agim that Oyetola failed to present sufficient evidence to prove his claim of overvoting in the July 16, 2022 governorship election.
The panel also unanimously held that the failure of the Osun election tribunal to consider the preliminary objections raised by Adeleke and the PDP at the trial level amounted to a failure to conduct a fair hearing and rendered the entire proceeding null and void.
Keyamo responded on Twitter, saying that while many people believe that any court judgment against the All Progressives Congress (APC) is a victory for the rule of law, he would still congratulate Adeleke on his victory.
However, the opposition parties have failed to consider the issue of over-voting demonstrated in the BVAS, a case before the election tribunal, and should therefore wait for the outcome in a few months.
He tweeted;
Those celebrating the decision of the Supreme Court today in the Osun Governorship contest are naturally the members of the PDP. I congratulate them. They have been joined by the members of their Siamese twins, the LP. Anything against APC, for them, is a victory for the Rule of Law. I also congratulate them.
However, they have not even stopped for a minute in their euphoria to reflect on the principles enunciated by the Supreme Court today as it affects the tenability of results obtained by BVAS to prove overvoting and how it affects their pending Presidential Election Petitions that will go before the same Supreme Court in a few months’ time.
The Supreme Court has set a precedent today that can be a two-edged sword and when I reflected on it, I just chuckled. Please, pin this tweet somewhere awaiting the final decision of the Presidential Election cases. I say no more