The governorship candidate of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) in the June 18 election, Mr. Segun Oni, has warned that the governor-elect, Biodun Oyebanji, risked losing his purported victory at the polls if the respondents continued to dodge court service within the stipulated law.
Oni, through his legal team who accused Oyebanji and the national leadership of the All Progressives Congress (APC) of allegedly committing contempt of court, said it was against the rule of court for the respondents to resist service and the implication might be that the case might proceed without defence.
The ex-governor last week accused Oyebanji, the deputy governor-elect, Mrs. Afuye and the ex-APC national caretaker chairman and Yobe State Governor Mai Mala Buni of being difficult to serve the court process for lack of fixed addresses.
Consequently, the petitioner approached the Election Petitions Tribunal seeking an order of substituted service, and was granted through a ruling delivered by the panel’s Chairman, Justice Wilfred Kpochi, at its inaugural sitting on July 25.
Addressing reporters in Ado-Ekiti at the weekend, one of the senior lawyers, Mr. Owonseni Ajayi, said the respondents had been resisting attempts by court’s bailiffs to serve them despite the order of the court.