Inec issues Adeleke with certificate of return confirming his victory in Osun elections

RECENTLY-elected Osun State governor-elect Senator Ademola Adeleke has finally been handed his certificate of return by the Independent National Electoral Commission (Inec) following his shock victory at the polls on Saturday.

Over the weekend, after a gruelling two-horse race, Senator Adeleke of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) floored incumbent Governor Gboyega Oyetola of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC). On Sunday morning, University of Lagos vice chancellor Professor Oluwatoyin Ogundipe, the returning officer for the election, officially declared Senator Adeleke the winner with 403,371 votes.

According to Inec's official figures, Governor Oyetola got 375,027 votes, while Action Democratic Party (ADP) candidate Kehinde Atanda came in at a distant third with 10,104 votes, followed by Akin Ogunbiyi of the Accord Party with 4,515 votes. Senator Adeleke won 17 local governments while Governor Oyetola won 13 local governments.

Yesterday, popular singer David Adeleke, the governor-elect's nephew, popularly known as Davido, said his uncle is yet to be presented with his certificate of return. Even when election results are disputed, as Governor Oyetola appears to be doing in this instance, Inec still issues certificate of return.

In response to Davido, Inec has today offered Senator Adeleke and the deputy governor-elect, Kola Adewusi their certificates of return. These certificates were presented to them in Osogbo, the Osun state capital by  Kunle Ajayi, the Inec national commissioner supervising Osun, Ogun and Oyo states.

In response, Davido said: “It’s been a long battle fought. We put our family name on the line, I put my career on the line but we had faith.

"This was God testing us if we really believed in him. I feel victorious. Congrats Your Excellency Adeleke. As for me it’s back to the studio."

Yesterday, Inec had told Davido that no law says the commission must issue a certificate of return within 48 hours. Festus Okoye, Inec's national commissioner and chairman of its information and voter education committee, stated that the commission has 14 days to issue certificates of return to election winners.

Mr Okoye  said: “There is no law in place that mandates the commission to issue a certificate to any candidate within 48 hours. The commission is not a political party and will not be swayed by partisan political interests.

“Section 72 of the Electoral Act 2022 provides that a sealed certificate of return at an election in the prescribed form shall be issued within 14 days to every candidate who has been returned by the returning officer in an election under the act.”