The Governorship Election Petition Tribunal sitting in Ibadan, Oyo State, on Monday, upheld the victory of Governor Seyi Makinde of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
Adebayo Adelabu of the All Progressives Congress (APC) had filed petition against Makinde in the March 9 Governorship election in the state.
Adelabu and his party APC challenged the declaration of Makinde by INEC as the winner of March 9 governorship election in Oyo State.
Makinde polled 515,621 votes to defect his closest rival, Adelabu who had 357,982 votes while PDP and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) are also respondents.
The petitioners said that Makinde was not duly elected by majority of lawful votes, adding that election was marred by over voting and failure to comply with the provision of Electoral Act.
Adelabu, therefore, prayed the tribunal to declare him the winner of the election, adding that he scored the highest number of lawful votes or alternatively, the tribunal should nullify the election and order a re-run.
The Chairman of the tribunal three-man tribunal, Justice Muhammed Sirajo, who delivered the unanimous judgement, said the testimonies of the ward and local government agents, called by the petitioners could not be relied upon.
According to the tribunal, the agents were not speaking the truth but and only relied on what they were told by polling units agents
He said that 32 pieces of evidence, out of the 69 witnesses called by the petitioners, were hearsay because the petitioners were ward and local government collation agents while the remaining 37 were polling unit agents.
Sirajo said that the petitioners called 69 witnesses and tendered 4,164 exhibits while the respondents called 15 witnesses, adding that said the testimony of an eye witness must come from the polling units agents who witnessed all that happened from the beginning to the end during the election.
The tribunal said that the petitioners also failed to tender necessary documents that would assist members of the tribunal in proving ballot paper accounting.
He said that it was not only the responsibilities of petitioners to tender documents but also to prove that the alleged irregularities in the election substantially affected the outcome of the election.
Sirajo said that the petitioners failed to prove that the respondents were not validly elected by majority of lawful votes.
“The petitioner failed to prove the allegation of non-compliance, non-accreditation, over voting and corrupt practices that would warrant the tribunal to nullify the election,“ he said.
Sirajo, who said that the petition lacked merit and stood dismissed, awarded N200,000 cost against the petitioners.
Counsel to the petitioners, Mr Akin Oladeji, said they would decide on next line of action after studying the judgement
Meanwhile, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has commended the tribunal judgement.
The party gave the commendation in a statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Mr Kola Ologbindiyan, on Monday, in Abuja.
Ologbindiyan described the judgment as victory for democracy and justice for the people of the state who gave Makinde their mandate at the March 9 governorship election.
He said that the jubilant atmosphere across the state over the verdict was a clear testimony that the judgement had fulfilled the desires and expectations of the people.
“The people of Oyo State were particularly overjoyed with the judgement because of Governor Makinde’s demonstrated capacity and commitment to deliver good governance in all sectors of life in the state,” he said.
While congratulating the governor and the people of the state on behalf of the party, Ologbondiyan urged Makinde not to relent in his efforts to turn around the fortunes of the people.
He also commended the members of the tribunal for their courage in delivering justice to the people of the state.
But the All Progressives Congress(APC) in Oyo State said on Monday that it received the judgement with dismay.
The party’s Publicity Secretary, Dr Azeez Olatunde, said in a statement on Monday in Ibadan that the State Working Committee would refer the ruling to its legal team for necessary recommendations.
“The State Working Committee of the Party in its proactive manner has decided to refer the tribunal ruling to our team of legal experts for necessary recommendations which the party hopes to follow appropriately,” it said.
It thanked members of the party for being law abiding and urged them as well as sympathisers to await the party’s next line of action in due course.
