By Tosin Tope, Akure
• APC congratulates governor
• We ‘ll appeal ruling, says PDP
The Ondo State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal has affirmed the victory of Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa of the All Progressives Congress (APC) as the winner of the November 16, 2024 governorship election.
The tribunal dismissed the petitions filed by the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and its governorship candidate, Agboola Ajayi, challenging the outcome of the election.
The state APC hailed the victory of the governor and his deputy, Dr. Olaide Adelami.
But, the state PDP Chairman, Olujimi Oluseye, said they would apply for the Certified True Copy of the judgement to study the ruling, then appeal.
In a unanimous judgment that lasted over 10 hours yesterday, a three-man panel led by Justice Benson Ogubu upheld the election of Aiyedatiwa, who was declared the winner by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) with 366,781 votes, defeating Ajayi who polled 117,845 votes.
The tribunal dismissed the petition of Ajayi on the form EC25B, where the petitioner claimed that the election materials were not inserted before the exercise, noting that all that was required for the form was the quantity of electoral materials received, and quantity returned.
The tribunal dismissed Mr Ajayi’s petition for lacking merit and held that the candidate of the PDP ‘failed woefully’ to provide sufficient evidence to support his claims of electoral irregularities and over-voting in the election exercise.
Describing some of the averments in the petition of the PDP as “vague”, the tribunal held that allegations against Aiyedatiwa’s victory were not substantiated.
On the ground of the alleged submission of a false certificate submitted to INEC by Mr Aiyedatiwa’s deputy, Olaide Adelami, the tribunal held that there are judgments on the issue from the courts of competent jurisdiction and the judgments are binding on the tribunal, and the ground was struck out
Earlier, the Election Petition Tribunal dismissed the petitions filed by the Action Alliance (AA), Allied People’s Movement (APM), and the Social Democratic Party (SDP) challenging Governor Aiyedatiwa’s victory.
The Tribunal held that the AA lacked the locus standi to challenge the outcome of the November 16, 2024 governorship election, which produced Aiyedatiwa.
It specifically affirmed that the party failed to present a candidate for the election and could not have challenged the outcome of the exercise.
Similarly, the Election Petition Tribunal threw away the case of the Allied People’s Movement (APM) and the Social Democratic Party (SDP), which were also challenging Aiyedatiwa’s victory.
In the case brought by the APM and the SPD candidate, Bamidele Akingboye; Governor Aiyedatiwa, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), and the All Progressives Congress (APC) were all listed as respondents.
The Tribunal found the case of the APM as lacking in ‘material fact’ and not supported by credible evidence in the Petition against Governor Aiyedatiwa.
Justice Ogubu stated that the APM’s allegations of voting without accreditation, over-voting, corrupt practices, and substantial non-compliance with the Electoral Act were not backed by any verifiable facts.
The Tribunal further held that the evidence presented was of no probative value, and the written statement of the APM’s witness should be discountenanced for failing to disclose the source of information.
The remaining two justices of the Election Petition Tribunal, Daurabu Sikkam, and Imelda Etiape also aligned themselves with the ruling of Ogubu.
In the case of the SDP, the Tribunal dismissed the party’s petition filed by its counsel, Adewole Adebayo, who alleged discrepancies in vote entries in Form EC8A, over-voting, and non-compliance with the Electoral Act.
Counsel to the respondents, Wole Olanipekun, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), asked the Tribunal to dismiss the petition for lacking substance.
Giving its verdict, the Tribunal ruled that the petition of the SPD lacked merit and failed to provide the required material facts.
It, however, said the petition was only based on speculation and was not also supported by concrete evidence, affirming that reliefs cannot be granted on propaganda and emotions.
Reacting to the judgment, the counsel to the PDP, Olujimi Oluseye, said the opposition party would apply for the Certified True Copy of the judgement to study the ruling.
“We respect the judges, but we must not forget that it didn’t go in our favour. Our clients have a constitutional right to seek redress.
“Having said that, we are going to apply for the Certified True Copy of the judgement, and we study it. Part of what we may likely do is to go on appeal. But this is subject to the information we get from our clients.”
On his part, Aiyedatiwa expressed joy to the victory recorded at the Tribunal, saying the will of the people have eventually prevailed.
“Some other political party thought they can steal the victory through the back door, but today the judiciary has once again performed one of their functions by reaffirming that decision of the majority of indigents of Ondo State who gave us the mandate across the entire 18 local governments,” he said.
Chairman of the party in the State, Engr. Ade Adetimehin, described the judgement as victory for President Bola Tinubu, National Chairman, His Excellency, Dr. Umar Ganduje, the All Progressives Congress and the good people of Ondo State.
The Election Petition Tribunal in Ondo State, led by Justice Benson Ogbubu, dismissed all the allegations by five political parties, including the People’s Democratic, and Social Democratic patties, and affirmed the candidate of APC, Dr. Ayedatiwa as the duly elected governor of Ondo State.
Adetimehin viewed the unanimous judgement as a judicial affirmation of the people’s mandate, which they willingly gave to the ruling party on November 16th last year.
The party chieftain called on the candidate of the people’s Democratic Party PDP, Hon. Agboola Ajayi, to return to the ruling APC, where he previously served as deputy governor.
Adetimehin continued, “The PDP governorship candidate, Hon Agboola Ajayi, was once part of us. He has progressive orientation, having served as Deputy Governor for four years on our platform. I therefore appeal to him to return home”.
The party commends residents of the Sunshine State for being resilient and peaceful, during the trial, and urged them to continue to support the APC government for more success stories.
