After a judgement which lasted for more than eleven hours, the Governorship Election Petition Tribunal sitting in Abeokuta, Ogun State, on Saturday, upheld election of Governor Dapo Abiodun, as the winner of March 18 election.
Justice Hamidu Kunaza-led tribunal in a unanimous decision dismissed the petition filed against Abiodun by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and its governorship candidate, Ladi Adebutu.
The panel held that Adebutu’s petition was “incompetent, defective and lacking in merits.”
The INEC had declared Abiodun winner after polling 276,298 votes, while Adebutu scored 262,38 and Biyi Otegbeye of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) came distant third with 94,754 votes.
But, PDP and Adebutu dragged Abiodun and APC before the Tribunal, alleging that the governor did not win the majority of votes cast during the March 18 governorship election.
PDP and Adebutu in the petition marked, EPT/OG/GOV/03/2023 accused the INECof non-compliance to the Electoral Act and corrupt practices during the election.
The petitioners also alleged that elections were disrupted by thugs in over 99 polling units, disenfranchising over 40,000 voters from participating in the election.
Adebutu sought an order of the court to declare him as the winner of the election.
He also prayed the court to order the INEC to conduct fresh election in 99 polling units in 41 wards which cut across 16 Local government areas of the State where elections were either not held and/or cancelled due to disruption and over-voting.
But the judges held that the petitioners failed to prove allegations of non-compliance, overvoting, disenfranchment of voters, non-qualification of second respondent (Abiodun) and corrupt practices during the polls, beyond reasonable doubt.
Justice Kunaza while reading the lead judgement held that the forensic experts have nothing to prove that they are qualified experts, adding that their reports cannot be relied on.
The panel also held that the there was no direct evidence that voters were disenfranchised during the election.
The tribunal maintained that the disenfranchised voters must testify that they were ready to vote; if they were allowed to vote their candidate would have won; and that they had their voters’ cards and were registered voters.
On the alleged non qualification of Abiodun due criminal records, Kunaza declared that the petitioners have failed to show that the second respondent (Abiodun) had been tried, arraigned and convicted in the US.
“On the whole, the petitioners have not successfully proven the allegation of non compliance with the electoral act and have not discharged the burden of prove,” he said.
On the allegation of certificate forgery leveled against Abiodun, the Tribunal held that the petitioner failed to prove the criminal allegation beyond reasonable doubt by providing witness from the United States of America (USA) to testify that the second defendant (Abiodun).
In striking out the allegation of vote buying and corrupt practices, the tribunal held that the allegations were two inseparable twin for which the petitioner has failed to prove beyond reasonable doubt.
The court also held that allegation of certificate forgery and arrest and detention of Abiodun in 1986 were pre-election matters which ought to have been determined 14-days before the election.
“The Tribunal rules that the,
petitioners have failed to prove any of the grounds of the petition and thus are not entitled to any of the reliefs sought. The petition fails and is dismissed. The return of Governor Abiodun is affirmed”
In dismissing the petition, Kunaza ruled “I uphold the election of Dapo Abiodun as the dully elected governor of Ogun State in the March 18 election.”
It would be recalled that Adebutu and his party had prayed the court to order INEC to conduct fresh election in 99 polling units in 41 wards across 16 Local government areas of the State, where elections were either not held and/or cancelled due to disruption and over-voting.
The petitioners, also urged the Tribunal to declare Adebutu, the winner of the election.
Reacting to the tribunal ruling, the State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC), described Governor Abiodun’s mandate as “divine”.
The party in a statement by its Publicity Secretary, Tunde Oladunjoye, quoted the state Chairman of the party, Chief Yemi Sanusi, as describing the victory of the party at the polls and the tribunal as “divine mandate”.
The statement read, “We went round the 20 local government areas of the state, we went to some local governments twice, we campaigned vigorously in the wards, we showcased what our party and government have done in four years. l and was doing. In most of our campaigns, we commissioned projects and inaugurated new ones which was unprecedented in the electioneering annals of Nigeria. Our people believed in us, trusted us and voted for continuity. We had no doubt about our electoral victory and It was indeed a divine mandate,” Sanusi said.
“We have always known that the PDP is as disorganized as its ramshackle petitions. which the party and its highly incompetent and run away defeated candidate knew or ought to have known cannot succeed. They merely wanted to reap where they did not sow, forgetting that you can’t build something on nothing. The tribunal has rightly done justice and due diligence to their spurious petitions. We only hope that Ladi Adebutu will eat the humble pie and return to Nigeria and face his criminal charges of votes buying and money laundering hanging on his neck at the High Court. We challenge him to be man enough to return to Nigeria,” the APC chairman said.
Sanusi also commended the victorious legal team: “Our party and governor assembled the best brains in election tribunal warfare in Nigeria today. There is no election dispute of note that is relied on in this case that at least one of our lawyers is not a part of,” he added.
“Finally, to God be the biggest credit and glory. We appreciate the unusual grace of God upon Prince Dapo Abiodun, to the chagrin of his detractors. Not many have this grace that when you think they are locked in, God opens the roof for them to walk free. Till today, many cannot understand why God chose Dapo Abiodun against all odds, but He did, and there is nothing his detractors could do about it,” Sanusi concluded.
