The All Progressives Congress (APC) had requested that the Osun Election Petition Tribunal be relocated, and the Osun Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) applauded the Nigerian judiciary for rejecting this request.
On the grounds that the state was not secure, the Osun APC has petitioned the Court of Appeal to have the election petition tribunal relocated outside of the state.
The party claimed that there were no valid justifications for the request, and it was delighted that the judicial leadership recognized the scheme and agreed with the security services that Osun is sufficiently secure to hold the Tribunal’s meeting.
The party, which insisted that Osun was not only a peaceful state, added that the state government primarily engineered the few instances of insecurity in its desperation-driven plan to crush the will of the people. The press release was signed by Adekunle Akindele, the Osun State Caretaker Chairman, and was obtained by BROOMHOME on Sunday.
Additionally, it made it appear as though it was aware of the All Progressive Congress (APC) and state governor Adegboyega Oyetola’s and group’s negative media reports on the suit contesting the appointment of senator Ademola Adeleke as governor of Osun State.
The party added that it had seen “with sadness that the sponsored, subjudice media trial’s intensity escalated shortly after the President rejected Oyetola’s request for the Court of Appeal to transfer the Tribunal hearing from Osogbo to Abuja.”
The Osun PDP added, “keeping them safe here in Osun rather than exposing them to tampering and hacking on transit, is our official position,” after stating that the party’s opposition to the APC’s relocation request was based on the urgent need to protect the integrity and safety of BVAS machines and other materials used during the elections.
The robots’ importance in deciding on the petition was also explained.
The petition that challenges the election of Senator Ademola Adeleke as governor of Osun State has drawn attention to a number of negative media reports from Mr. Gboyega Oyetola and the All Progressive Congress (APC), the statement reads.
“We note with dismay that the sponsored, subjudice media trial’s intensity escalated shortly after the Court of Appeal of Oyetola’s request to move the Tribunal’s session from Osogbo to Abuja was denied by the President.
“First and foremost, we applaud the judiciary for rejecting the petition for a relocation because there were no valid grounds for the proposal. Osun is not just peaceful, but the few instances of instability there were mostly the result of the state government’s desperation-driven efforts to break the will of the populace. We are therefore delighted that the judicial leadership detected the scheme and accepted the security agencies’ stance that Osun is sufficiently secure to host the Tribunal’s meeting.
“We hasten to emphasize that the reason for our opposition to the relocation request was the urgent need to preserve the integrity and security of BVAS machines and other election-related equipment. Our official position is to keep the devices secure here in Osun rather than leaving them vulnerable to manipulation and hacking while in travel because they are anticipated to be crucial to the outcome of the petition.
Friday’s BROOMHOME reported that Governor Gboyega Oyetola’s bid to move the Tribunal’s session to Abuja had been denied by the Abuja Appeal Court.
In a letter titled: RE: PETITION NO, EPT/OS/GOV/01/2022, ADEGBOYEGA ISIAKA OYETOLA & ANOR V. INDEPENDENT NATIONAL ELECTORAL COMMISSION & 2 ORS, the Chief Registrar Court of Appeal, Bangari Umar, rejected Oyetola’s candidacy for governor on July 16 on behalf of the All Progressives Congress.
The note claims that on August 23, Oyetola wrote a letter on the issue to Justice M.B. Dongban Mensem of Appeal, who is the President of the Court.
After careful deliberation and consideration of Oyetola’s request, the Court of Appeal noted that the President of the Court was unable to grant her request because the State’s security agencies had promised the Court their cooperation and support in enhancing the security of the Tribunal and its proceedings.
