Senator Adeleke granted bail to enable him seek medical attention in the US as certificate forgery trial continues

OSUN West lawmaker Senator Ademola Adeleke has been granted bail to enable him visit the US for a medical check-up after he appeared before a Federal Capital Territory high court this morning where he is facing certificate forgery charges.

In a highly complicated and complex political drama, Senator Adeleke of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) was declared the winner of the September 2018 Osun State gubernatorial election  by the Osun State Governorship Election Petitions Tribunal sitting in Abuja. This overturned the declaration by the Independent National Electoral Commission (Inec) which had declared Governor Gboyega Oyetola of the All Progressives Congress (APC), the winner with a total of 255,505 votes while Senator Adeleke scored 255,023 votes.

Inec had originally declared Governor Oyetola the winner after holding a re-run in Osogbo, Orolu, Ife North and Ife South local government areas, after it which it announced him vioctor with a total of 255,505 votes while Senator Adeleke scored 255,023 votes. Senator Adeleke had, however appealed the declaration and won it based on the argument that the re-run was not necessary and he won the original contest with 353 votes.

Governor Oyetola is appealing the election tribunal decision but while that is still pending, Senator Adeleke was arrested yesterday and charged with certificate forgery. It is alleged that he does not have the minimum academic qualifications to be a governor as he did not sit the secondary school leaving O'Level examinations.

His case was charged to court this morning and the senator was granted bail in the sum of N2m and a surety who must be a resident within Mpape, where the hearing held. After Senator Adeleke was granted bail, the case was adjourned until June 24, by which time, he would have returned from his medical check-up in the US.

Justice Inyang Ekwo ordered the senator to honour a fresh police invitation before travelling the US today.  In granting the senator permission to embark on the trip on May 7, the judge ordered him to return to the country on June 9.

Last year, Senator Adeleke’s passport was seized by the court following his initial arraignment on charges of examination malpractices. Granting Adeleke’s request for the return of his passport last Friday, the judge ordered the court's chief registrar to release it to enable him embark on the foreign trip.