Ede Goes Agog For Governor-Elect, Adeleke’s Inauguration

The indigenes of Ede, Senator Ademola Adeleke’s home town, are already in a joyous mood ahead of his inauguration as the Governor of Osun State on Sunday.

News Agency of Nigeria reported on Friday that all hotels and suites in the town had been fully booked, while most houses wore new looks as many residents gathered in groups to discuss the upcoming event.

Across-section of Ede indigenes, including artisans, market leaders, commercial transporters, told NAN that they already paid for the fabric they would wear for the event.

A native of Ede and member of commercial motorcycle operators, Mr Tafa Adekilekun, said he and other members of his association paid N3,000 each for the purchase of the fabric for the inauguration. He said his group bought a cow and other food stuffs to celebrate after the inauguration.

“The governor-elect is our son in Ede and the choice of the people. We see the inauguration as ours and we are set to celebrate,” he said.

Another resident and member of the Peoples Democratic Party, Mr Akintunde Ajayi, said party members at the ward levels ad bought different attires for the inauguration.

Meanwhile, the Osun State Election Petitions Tribunal on Friday ordered the National Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, Prof Mahmood Yakubu, to present before the panel the certificates submitted by Adeleke for the 2018 governorship poll.

Adeleke was the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party and the state’s governor-elect. His victory at the poll is being challenged by Governor Adegboyega Oyetola of the All Progressives Congress.

The panel had adjourned till Friday for the ruling on the application by the counsel for the petitioners, Akin Olujinmi, who urged the panel to ask the INEC chairman, in whose custody the documents were said to be kept, to produce them before the panel.

But counsel for INEC, Prof Paul Ananaba, opposed the application, saying subpoena on the commission had been fully obeyed by the Resident Electoral Commissioner, who sent an official to the panel.

The official had told the panel that the documents were not in the possession of the Osun office of the commission but were filed at INEC headquarters in Abuja.

In his ruling, the Chairman of the tribunal, Justice Tertsea Kume, held that the petitioners had shown sufficient reasons for the tribunal to compel the INEC chairman to produce the documents in question.

He dismissed objections raised by the respondents and compelled the INEC chairman to produce the documents on Thursday, December 1, when the panel will reconvene.

Also, the state chapter of the APC has said it will challenge the judgment of the Federal High Court sitting in Osogbo, which nullified the October 15 local government elections conducted by the Osun State Independent Electoral Commission. The party described the judgment as a temporary setback.

Justice Nathaniel Ayo-Emmanuel in his judgment said the election contravened sections 29 and 32 of the Electoral Act, 2022.

The judge held that notice of the election was invalid as it was inconsistent with the provision of Section 150 (3) of the Electoral Act. He observed that the amended OSIEC law was at variance with sections 29 and 32 of the 2022 Electoral Act which provides that 180 days’ notice must be given before local government polls.

But the APC, in a statement by the Deputy Chairman, Mr Taju Lawal, urged members of the party to continue to embrace peace and shun any manner of provocation that might emanate from the Federal High Court judgment.

He added, “Our party is taking all necessary legal steps to ensure that the judgment that nullified the local government council elections will not stand. We need your continued cooperation to weather the storm with an assurance that there is a bright light at the end of the tunnel.”