By Ewache Ajefu, Ladi Patrick, Abuja and Sulaymon Abdulkareem, Lagos

It ordered that he be issued the certificate of victory forthwith by the Independent National Electoral Commission. The dancing in the streets spread all around the state as people glued to their TV sets watched the judgement as it was read.

Their joy followed the great apprehension after two previous tribunal judgements, the presidential elections appeal tribunal and only a few days ago the Oyo state elections tribunal returned verdicts that appeared to run against the grain.

The panel ruled that Oshiomhole, who contested on the ticket of the Action Congress, had proved his allegations of fraud, voter intimidation, multiple voter registration, and over-voting and election violence and which adversely affected the outcome of the election. The tribunal declared Oshiomhole the true winner of the gubernatorial elections, with 166,577 votes.

The tribunal invalidated 263,144 votes for the PDP and 30,610 for AC. Two local government areas were canceled.

The tribunal berated INEC for incompetence. It said that INEC officials did not present any credible evidence before the tribunal.

The lawyers for Prof. Osunbor led by his lead counsel, Dr Alex Iziyon, have indicated their plan to appeal the judgment.

"Comrade Adams Aliu Oshiomhole is hereby declared governor of Edo state of Nigeria being the candidate who scored the highest number of votes cast during the election," the judge said.

He ordered INEC to "withdraw the certificate of return issued to Osunbor immediately."

Osunbor is the sixth governor to be removed because of vote irregularities in the April 2007 election.

Victory messages came thick and fast for Oshiomole especially from his old constituency, Labour. The Trade Union Congress (TUC) described the court jugdment asa well deserved victory and an act of God. TUC message was signed by its secretary- general, Comrade John Kolawole and reads,"I hereby write on behalf of the leadership of the Trade Union Congress of Nigeria to congratulate you on a well-deserved victory at the Edo State Election Tribunal sitting in Benin City.We thank God that the victory had come as the Tribunal pronounced you as the winner of the Edo State Guber national election that took place in April, 14, Last Year.

The congress solidarises with our dear Comrade Oshiomhole over this victory and you should continue to count on our support in moving Edo State to greater heights.

In a message from Geneva where he is attending the governing council meeting of the International Labour Organization, Oshiomhole's successor, Comrade Abdulwaheed Omar described the tribunal ruling as a triumph of the will of the electorate of Edo State and as a major step in the democratic development of Nigeria.

He congratulated the people of Edo State and indeed the whole of Nigeria for the resilience they demonstrated throughout the tribunal proceedings, adding that the victory was for the good people of Nigeria as a whole and not Oshiomhole alone.

The NLC president commended the tribunal and saluted the thoroughness and integrity of the panel."The tribunal dispensed justice in a way that suggested that they appreciated the enormity of the issues at stake and the need to do what is right," he said.

He added that the quality of the ruling, would significantly improve the jurisprudence on election petitions in Nigeria.

He reaffirmed his confidence that Edo State would witness quality and people-driven governance with Comrade Oshiomhole as governor.

Governor Babatunde Fashola of Lagos State lauded the ruling of the Edo State governorship election petition tribunal as “extremely commendable, logical and sound”.

Fashola said that the ruling has reinforced his belief in the electoral process of the country.

Said Fashola: “Listening to the decisions today and the findings of facts made by the tribunal on the oral and documentary evidence as presented before them relating to the issues of electoral malpractices, ballot paper stuffing and all of that, the application of the law to those findings was, in my view, extremely commendable, logical and sound.”

He said that the ruling has reinforced his belief on the position he has already taken that elections are a process starting from registration of voters to actual voting, to election petitions, up to and including appeals from them, adding, “so the process is still on”.

The Governor, who said he was saddened by the violent turn of events at the time of the election, expressed joy that now the rule of law has taken firm root.

“Now our people will begin to see that violence does not solve anything, process does, constitutionalism does, law and order does, and it is only when we have all these in place that all of the developmental challenges that we face as a people can really be overcome,” he added.

The AC presidential candidate in 2007 election, former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar, yesterday in Abuja commended the judiciary for strengthening the country's democracy.

Reacting to the judgment, Atiku through his media aide, Malam Garba Shehu, said that the judgment was coming at a time when ``despair had begun to set in following a streak of unfavourable decisions that shocked Nigerians beyond expectations.''

``It will rekindle the hope in the judiciary. We expected Adams Oshiomhole to win because this was a clear case of stolen victory, just as is evident in many other states,''

Atiku, who lost his petition at the tribunal has appealed to the Supreme Court.

The Country Director of Centre for Democracy and Development (CDD), Dr Jibrin Ibrahim, described the judgment as ``a very good one''.

Ibrahim, a member of the Electoral Reform Committee, said the tribunal had been a very significant actor in trying to give justice after the massive fraud that trailed the 2007 elections.

``The Edo judgment would solidify the confidence in the judiciary. It shows that people cannot use power in a reckless way if we have the rule of law,'' he added.

Also Mr Orji Uzor Kalu former governor of Abia State has said Comrade Adams Oshiomole's victory was a great achievement for the nation's judiciary.

He added that the verdict clearly shows that people's mandate cannot be toyed with if judicial intervention is sought.