Ahead of today’s judgment by the Court of Appeal on the dispute over the election result of the Osun State governorship mandate between Governor Ademola Adeleke and his predecessor, Adegboyega Oyetola, security operatives have been on red alert to prevent likely breakdown of law and order in the state.
The Court of Appeal, yesterday, fixed today for judgment.
Oyetola of All Progressives Congress (APC), who was defeated at the July 16, 2022 poll by Adeleke of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), challenged the victory at the Election Petition Tribunal on two grounds of over-voting and alleged certificate forgery by the latter.
The majority judgment, read by the panel chairman, Justice Tertse Kume, sacked Adeleke on over-voting at 744 polling units.
The judge directed the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to withdraw the Certificate of Return from Adeleke and issue a fresh one to Oyetola.
But INEC approached the Appeal Court to challenge the judgment on 44 grounds.
But Oyetola and APC filed a cross-appeal over certificate forgery, which the three-member panel established against Adeleke.
During the last sitting of the Appeal Court, Akure, which sat in Abuja on March 13, the court reserved judgment after the adoption of the final written addresses by all the parties.
The lawyers in the case were informed yesterday that judgment would be delivered today at noon.
Security personnel have been deployed in the state to prevent likely breakdown of law and order from the camp that may not be satisfied with tomorrow’s judgment.
When contacted yesterday, spokesperson of the Osun State Command of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), Kehinde Adeleke, said: “We commenced strategic deployment of personnel around critical infrastructure in the state and 24-hour patrol by armed detachment of the corps in readiness for emergency responses ahead of Friday judgment on Osun governorship mandate.
“The command is ready to prevent any breakdown of law and order that may arise from possible protests by aggrieved parties.”