ADELEKE’S OSUN VICTORY GOES UNCHALLENGED

Osun State Governor, Ademola Adeleke, will not face a tribunal challenge to his victory in the August 15 governorship election after the 21-day period for filing petitions expired without any being submitted.

The deadline for challenging the election result ended on Saturday, but the Osun State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal confirmed that it had received no petition from any of the 14 political parties defeated in the poll.

Adeleke, who contested under the Accord Party, was declared winner by the Independent National Electoral Commission with 511,067 votes. His closest challenger, All Progressives Congress candidate Bola Oyebamiji, polled 444,815 votes.

The election tribunal had opened its registry shortly after the results were announced to allow candidates and political parties to challenge the outcome within the period prescribed by law.

A member of the APC legal team, speaking anonymously, said the party decided against filing a petition in the interest of peace, despite believing it had grounds to challenge the result.

Osun Accord chairman, Victor Akande, described the decision by the opposition candidates not to challenge the result as a sign of political maturity.

The development means Adeleke’s victory has effectively gone unchallenged at the election petition tribunal, allowing attention to shift towards governance and the next phase of his administration.