The Osun State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal will begin a full hearing of the electoral dispute on October 26.
Recall that Governor Adegboyega Oyetola of the All Progressives Congress (APC) had filed a petition against the declaration of Senator Ademola Adeleke as governor-elect.
The tribunal made this pronouncement after concluding the pre-hearing session yesterday.
The tribunal was asked to dismiss the applications of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), seeking the discontinuation of the petition brought to it by Governor Oyetola.
Counsel for Oyetola and the APC, Alhaji Lasun Sanusi, SAN, at the sitting of the tribunal argued that Adeleke’s, PDP’s and INEC’s reliance on a Federal Court High judgment was nothing but an abuse of court process.
Counsel for INEC, Prof. Paul Ananaba, SAN; counsel for Adeleke, Onyechi Ikpeazu, SAN and counsel for the PDP, Dr. Alex Izinyon, SAN, agreed that any decision the tribunal would take on the matter would have to wait until the Appeal Court and the Supreme Court decided on it.
They said they just decided to argue the applications to have it on record, a position that the tribunal agreed with and put on record.
Subsequently, counsel for all parties in the matter agreed to begin the full hearing starting with the calling of witnesses on October 26.
