‘INEC erred, Ademola Adeleke ought to be returned’

A legal practitioner, Boye Williams, has averred that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) erred by not declaring Senator Ademola Adeleke of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) as winner.

Williams of Divine Chambers argued that having polled 254, 698 of the lawful votes against his closest rival, Alhaji Gboyega Oyetola of the All Progressives Congress (APC), the PDP’s Adeleke ought to be returned as winner.

He cited section 69 of the Electoral Act 2010 as amended to buttress his assertion, saying the Act stipulates that “In an election to the office of the President or Governor whether or not contested and in any contested election to the other elective office, the result shall be ascertained by counting the votes cast by each candidate and subject to the provisions of sections 133, 134 and 179 of the Constitution, the candidate that receives the highest number of votes shall be declared elected by the appropriate Returning Officer.”

The legal practitioner dismissed INEC’s contention that the cancelled votes, which is 3,498, is more than the difference between the candidate that polled the highest number of votes and the closest rival, which is 353, arguing that Section 179 of the 1999 Constitution is applicable to the Osun poll.

He argued that the PDP candidate satisfied the provision of 25 per cent of all votes cast in each of at least 2/3 of all the local government councils of the state, stressing that INEC’s decision to declare the election inconclusive is not grounded in law.