TIMOTHY AGBOR, OSOGBO
About 48 hours after a majority judgment of the Election Petition Tribunal upturned his victory at the July 16 Osun governorship poll, Governor Ademola Adeleke appeared unperturbed as he embarked on road parade.
The governor was seen waving at crowds of cheering residents in Osogbo, Osun State capital on Sunday while his convoy moved round some parts of the city.
The governor was said to be heading to the secretariat of his party, the People’s Democratic Party at Bicket area of Osogbo for an event.
Along Igbona, Ayetoro and Stadium roads, Adeleke attracted crowds as most of the cheering supporters were saying “Imole,” an alias of the state governor.
Upon his arrival at the party secretariat, Adeleke, apparently teasing Justice Tetsea Kume, the Chairman of the three-member tribunal panel who delivered the verdict that ousted him, danced excitingly to Kiss Daniel song ‘Buga’.
The Point had reported that Kume had delivered the major judgment that declared the candidate of the All Progressives Congress, Gboyega Oyetola as winner of the July 16 poll after saying that Adeleke “cannot go low low and buga won.”
According to Justice Kume while delivering the judgement on Friday, “the second respondent (Adeleke) did not score a majority of lawful votes cast for the election. The declaration and return is hereby declared as null and void, the second respondent cannot “go low low and buga won” as duly elected governor of Osun State in the election conducted on July 16 2022, see Kiss Daniel song, Buga.”
But, Adeleke, who had danced to the buga song during his inuaguration on November 27, 2022 in Osogbo, decided to resume his dancing at the secretariat amid cheers by his party leaders and members, notwithstanding what the judge thinks of it.
The decision of Kume to refer to Adeleke’s dancing skill in his verdict has been greeted with condemnations, especially by the ruling party.
According to the leadership of the PDP in Osun, ‘Buga’ song mentioned in the tribunal by Justice Kume, and referenced by the judge in a landmark judgement showed how ‘unserious and illogical the pronouncement’ was.
The Caretaker Chairman of the party, Adekunle Akindele expressed shock at the development, alleging that Kume showed his bias by choosing to refer to Adeleke’s flair for dancing.
Akindele said, “there is nothing in the law that says, ‘if you dance’, you have violated this law and it is so shocking that the judge can make reference to that area.
“It shows that his judgement is not based on facts. It was based on personal hatred for another human being. It is fraudulent and there was no attempt to disguise the fact that this was a waybill judgement.
“To us, it is not the business of a judge to inquire whether somebody is dancing or not. The judge simply trivialised a serious state matter. We had expected the judge to focus on the following issues when he was treating his judgement; on the issue of over-voting, didn’t talk about comparing the BVAS machines, accreditation list and others.
“He was just busy talking about ‘Buga’ and later jumped to over-voting. He trivialised the whole thing and that is why we believe that judgement will not stand at the Court of Appeal. Dancing, jogging, and running, are private affairs. That shows how ridiculous the whole judgement is,” he said.
Adeleke, popularly known as ‘Dancing Senator’ while in the Senate, has never hidden his talent and love for dancing.
He had declared that being governor would not change his flair for dancing because, according to him, “it’s only happy people that dance.”
