Agency Reporters
Ekiti gov poll: Tribunal upholds Oyebanji’s Victory
•Describes Oni’s petition as vague, nebulous
THE Election Petition Tribunal, sitting in Ado-Ekiti, yesterday, upheld the victory of Governor Biodun Oyebanji as the winner of the June 18 governorship election in Ekiti State.
The Tribunal subsequently dismissed the petition filed by the Social Democratic Party, SDP, governorship candidate, Segun Oni, challenging Oyebanji’s victory on account that the claims of the petitioner lacked merit.
Oni, a former Ekiti State governor, had approached the court, alleging that the All Progressives Congress, APC, didn’t have a validly nominated governorship candidate.
He argued through his counsel, Owoseni Ajayi, that Governor Mai Mala-Buni of Yobe State, who signed the nomination form of Oyebanji and who also superintended over the APC governorship primaries, contravened section 183 of the 1999 Constitution.
The SDP candidate also urged the tribunal to declare him the winner, alleging that the Deputy Governor, Monisade Afuye, presented a fake Senior School Certificate to the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC.
Delivering the judgement, the chairman of the three-man tribunal panel, Justice Wilfred Kpochi maintained that the SDP candidate failed to prove his case beyond reasonable doubt that the victory of Oyebanji was against the country’s constitution and the Electoral Act (amended).
The tribunal held that the petitioner failed to call enough witnesses to prove allegations of malpractices across the polling units, wards and local government areas on the day of the election, adding that the SDP only relied on hearsay evidence which the court held was not tenable in law.
Justice Kpochi, while referencing the decision of the Supreme Court on Eyitayo Jegede’s suit versus Rotimi Akeredolu in Ondo State, noted that the nominations were valid given the outcome of the APC primaries which were decided mainly by party members.
The Judge held that the issue raised by the petitioners was a pre-election matter outside the jurisdiction of the tribunal, saying the Yobe State governor enjoyed immunity and could not be sued.
On the issue of certificate forgery against the Deputy Governor, Mrs Afuye, the judge held that the petitioner failed by not calling the management of the West Africa Examination Council, WAEC, to testify against the alleged forged document.
Justice Kpochi said it was wrong for the SDP candidate to introduce the allegation in his reply to the respondents and not in his initial petition filed within the stipulated 21 days period.
The Tribunal chairman said: “It is vague, nebulous, generic and lack specifics, the allegations of malpractices in the June 18 poll without giving satisfactory evidence. The candidates are qualified to contest the election and INEC conducted the poll in a free and fair manner.
“Therefore, we have come to an inescapable end that the petitioner failed to prove the cases against the respondents and we, hereby, dismiss the petition against the election of Oyebanji as governor of Ekiti state.”
Responding to the judgement, counsel to Oyebanji and former Attorney-General of Ekiti State, Mr Olawale Fapohunda, SAN, hailed the tribunal for upholding the victory of the governor, calling on the SDP candidate to place the interest of the state above his interest by supporting the government towards improving the lives of the people.
Fapohunda said: “Judgment has been delivered, every fair person who listened to the judgment will agree that it was fair, balanced and it affirmed existing authorities particularly those recently decided by the Supreme Court.
“I think what is more important is that we are all winners. I think the governor has never seen this as ‘us versus them’ and this affirms the need for all of us to come together and work for the progress of the state. I think that is what is important.
“We are all winners, it is time now to look away from the court and focus on what our people want – good governance. I am sure that very soon, the governor will also be reaching out to Segun Oni to join him in ensuring that the needs of our people are bettered.
“There were several issues, the issue of Yobe State Governor Mai Buni was raised, and the tribunal did justice to that matter by saying that it was not Buni himself that put candidates forward but APC, the issue of the certificate of the deputy governor which was a major issue raised by the petitioner was also dealt with and it is clear that the allegation that she is not qualified was not valid at all.”
