Governor Ademola Adeleke’s victory in the August 15 Osun governorship election has gone unchallenged at the election petition tribunal after the constitutional 21-day period for filing complaints expired.
The deadline elapsed on Saturday, with none of the 14 political parties that lost the election submitting a petition disputing the result.
The development means no opposition candidate has formally approached the tribunal to seek the cancellation or reversal of the outcome declared by the Independent National Electoral Commission.
Adeleke, who contested the election under the Accord platform, was declared the winner by INEC State Returning Officer, Prof. Joshua Ogunwole.
He secured 511,067 votes, defeating his closest challenger, Bola Oyebamiji of the All Progressives Congress, who recorded 444,815 votes.
A total of 15 political parties presented candidates for the governorship contest.
Following the announcement of the results, the election petition tribunal opened its registry at the Osun State High Court premises in Oke Fia, Osogbo, to receive any legal challenges arising from the election.
On Saturday, which marked the final day for submitting petitions, the tribunal registry remained open to receive filings.
However, a staff member at the tribunal confirmed that no petition had been submitted challenging the election result.
Attempts to obtain the reaction of the Osun State chapter of the APC were unsuccessful. Calls to the party’s spokesperson, Kola Olabisi, were unanswered, while a WhatsApp message seeking the party’s position had not received a response at the time of reporting.
The Osun Accord chairman, Victor Akande, described the decision by the defeated candidates not to contest the result in court as a positive development for democracy.
Akande said accepting an election outcome where the process was considered credible demonstrated political maturity among the opposition candidates.
He also argued that the frequent practice of seeking to overturn electoral mandates through litigation does not always serve democratic interests.
Olugbenga Ajala, the governorship candidate of the Social Democratic Party, also said he had accepted the result because he considered the election and the processes surrounding it sufficiently fair.
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Ajala maintained that if there had been serious concerns about the credibility of the exercise, the SDP would have taken the matter before the tribunal.
According to him, the absence of a petition reflects the belief among the participating parties and candidates that the electoral process was fair enough to accept its outcome.
With the statutory period for filing petitions now closed and no challenge lodged before the tribunal, Adeleke’s victory currently stands without a legal contest.
The development marks a notable departure from the frequent post-election litigation that often follows governorship elections in Nigeria, particularly when defeated candidates dispute the conduct or results of a poll.