Tribunal: I Won’t Allow Oyetola, APC Steal People’s Mandate Through Back Door, Says Adeleke

The governor-elect of Osun State, Senator Ademola Adeleke, has said he is ready to do everything legally to defend the mandate which the people of the state gave him at the July 16 governorship election.

Adeleke has defeated the incumbent Governor Adegboyega Oyetola to win the poll but Oyetola, who contested on the platform of the All Progressives Congress has filed a petition to challenge the victory before the tribunal.

But in a statement issued by Adeleke on Saturday through his media aide Mallam Olawale Rasheed, the governor-elect urged the people of the state to remain calm.

He said his emergence as governor-elect was entrenched in total compliance with the law and will of the people, saying he has nothing to fear.

Adeleke, who lost the 2018 governorship poll to Oyetola said he has confidence in God and the judiciary to defend the mandate.

He said the recent Osun State governorship election was one of the most credible elections in recent times in Nigeria, saying the people’s mandate freely given him would be defended and validated.

Adeleke said the PDP legal team was already taking appropriate action on the filing, calling on his supporters at home and abroad to remain calm.

The statement read, “This divine victory cannot be stolen through the backdoor.

“I urge the good people of Osun State who voted massively to reject bad governance to remain calm. We are doing the needful to defend their mandate. We will do all within our powers to ensure judicial validation of our victory as this is an election globally certified as a great advancement in electoral transparency and integrity.

“We also want to reaffirm our faith in the judiciary as a bastion of hope and justice. We have unshakeable trust in God that this election petition shall end in another landmark victory for us and the resilient people of Osun State.”