‘BUGA Judgment’ — Adeleke Hits Back At Justice Kume

The Osun State Governor, Ademola Adeleke, has hit back at the Chairman of the state’s governorship election petition tribunal, Justice Terste Kume, over comments he made before ordering his removal from office.

Adeleke of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) was sacked on Friday on the grounds of alleged over-voting in the July 16, 2022 Osun governorship election.

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Delivering the majority judgment of a three-man panel, Justice Kume had ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to recognize the immediate past governor and candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Gboyega Oyetola, as the duly elected governor of the state.

But before ordering Adeleke’s removal, the judge reportedly mocked the governor saying he “can’t go lo lo lo” to “Buga won” and make merry based on a fraudulent election result.

‘Buga’ is the title of a song by Nigerian singer, Kizz Daniel, which became an instant hit and travelled all over the world along with its unique dance style.

Governor Adeleke, who is popularly known as the ‘dancing senator’ due to how he dances publicly, responded to Justice Kume in a tweet on Monday.

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He said, “This evening, I attended the PDP stakeholders and leaders meeting where critical matters were discussed in preparation for the forthcoming election.

“I seized the opportunity to thank the people of Osun for their support and for rejecting the ‘BUGA’ judgement (sic),” the governor added.

Kume in the judgement said the panel deducted unlawful votes in the election and arrived at 314,931 votes for Oyetola while Adeleke’s score dropped 290,666.

He instructed INEC to “withdraw the certificate of return issued to the 2nd Respondent (Adeleke), and issue it to the 1st Petitioner (Oyetola) as the duly elected Governor of Osun State. Accordingly, reliefs 72c, d in 744 Polling Units only, e, f, g, h and I already reproduced in the judgment are hereby granted. Having granted the main reliefs, the alternative reliefs are hereby struck out.”

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Meanwhile, in the original result declared by INEC, Adeleke polled 403,371 votes to defeat Oyetola who scored 375,027 votes.

The governor has since appealed the tribunal’s judgment.

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