The All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate for the July 16, 2022 Osun State governorship election, Adegboyega Oyetola, and his party have filed a cross‑appeal against the election petition tribunal’s judgment, which addressed allegations of forgery in favor of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate, Senator Ademola Adeleke. The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) originally declared Adele Adeleke the winner, but the tribunal later annulled his victory and declared Oyetola the winner, while still ruling on the certificate‑forgery issue in favor of the incumbent governor.
INEC, Adeleke, and the PDP have appealed the tribunal’s decision to the Court of Appeal, Akure Division. In their cross‑appeal, the APC and Oyetola, represented by counsel Lateef Fagbemi (SAN) and Akin Olujimi (SAN), argue that the tribunal erred in finding the certificates from Atlanta Metropolitan College and Penn Foster High School to be genuine. The appeal points out that Exhibits 2R.RW6 and 2R.RW9 contradict each other: Exhibit 2R.RW9 claims that Adeleke obtained a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice within 24 days of receiving Exhibit 2R.RW6, a diploma that appears to be equivalent to a secondary school certificate.
The cross‑appeal asserts that, because forgery was proven concerning Adeleke’s Exhibits EC9 and FILE D, the tribunal should have applied Section 182(1)(1) of the Constitution to disqualify him from contesting the July 16, 2022 Osun State governorship election. It further states that once a candidate’s document is proven forged, the candidacy is void and cannot be remedied by any other documents the candidate may present. Consequently, the tribunal’s finding that Adeleke remained qualified to contest the election is inconsistent with the clear provision of Section 182(1)(1) of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended).
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