The Governorship Election Petition Tribunal sitting in Abeokuta, Ogun, on Monday, struck out the vote-buying allegation levelled against Governor Dapo Abiodun and the All Progressives Congress (APC) by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and its governorship candidate, Ladi Adebutu.
Adebutu had dragged Governor Abiodun and the APC to the tribunal challenging their declaration as the winner of the March 18, 2023 governorship election in the state.
Prof. Taiwo Osipitan (SAN), counsel to Abiodun, had filed an application asking the Tribunal to strike out the Reply in its entirety or in the alternative, to strike out offending paragraphs from that Reply.
Osipitan argued that the Reply filed by Adebutu and PDP contravened paragraph 16(1) (a & b) of the Electoral Act and the rules of court pleadings.
The Chairman of the Tribunal, while ruling on the application Justice H.N. Kunaza, agreed with the submissions by Osipitan.
In the ruling, supported by the other two members; Hon. Justice J.B. Egele and Hon. Justice Sanusi Shehu, the Tribunal overruled Adebutu’s lawyers, led by Chief Goddy Uche (SAN), saying that the application filed by the Governor lawyers was not the kind of application that the Constitution requires to be determined at the end of proceedings in judgment.
Relying on relevant provisions of the Constitution, the Tribunal held that only applications that challenge the tribunal’s jurisdiction or the competence of a petition will be deferred till judgment whereas the application filed by Governor Abiodun’s lawyers was not that kind of application.
The Tribunal also held that the Reply by Adebutu and PDP was incompetent for multiple reasons.
The Tribunal identified some paragraphs which contained unnecessary and repetitive allegations, others, which contained arguments and legal conclusions (which are not allowed in replies), and some paragraphs which were an improper expansion of the petition earlier filed.
The Tribunal noted that in their petition, Adebutu and PDP alleged that Governor Abiodun and APC committed corrupt practices during the gubernatorial elections. The Tribunal further noted that vote buying is a specie of corruption and that if PDP and Adebutu truly believed that APC engaged in vote buying, the petitioner ought to have included those allegations in their petition from the start, which they did not do.
The Tribunal noted that if the Reply filed by Adebutu and PDP was permitted, there was a risk to prejudice, surprise, or even shut out Governor Abiodun and APC on the issues raised in that Reply.
The Tribunal denounced Adebutu and the PDP for coming up with the vote-buying allegation only after APC and Governor Abiodun had done same against them.
The Tribunal held that when Governor Abiodun and APC filed their defence, they joined issues with Adebutu and PDP; that by joining issues, the parties fixed the dispute; and that it was improper to go outside those issues in the Reply.
The Tribunal also found that it was unnecessary to file a Reply in the circumstance, as held in several decisions of the Supreme Court and the Appeal Court.
The PDP in a statement issued by the Director of Media, Ladi Adebutu Campaign Organisation, Afolabi Orekoya, described the narrative of Abiodun over the ruling as false.
The statement reads, ‘It is important to keep members of the public abreast of what transpired at the Governorship Election Tribunal today June 19, 2023, where a ruling on the application by Dapo Abiodun’s counsel was delivered. This is to set the records straight before facts and records are deliberately distorted to suit some petty political fantasies.
“The ruling as delivered by the tribunal centred on an application filed by Dapo Abiodun’s Counsel to strike out our party and candidate’s reply to their response. Their claim was that we introduced new issue in our reply to their (Dapo Abiodun) response to our petition which was not contained in our original petition.
“Today’s ruling has nothing to do with the competence of our petition rather it only allows fair hearing of the 2nd respondent.
“We are very confident that our petition is alive and we are also certain of crushing the 2nd respondent’s case at the main trial, therefore, our people should be calm and encouraged that we have a good case at the tribunal. Today’s ruling has no bearing on our petition as our grounds for disqualifying Dapo ABIODUN’S declaration are intact and strong.
“The competence of our petition was further affirmed by the tribunal with the Chairman of the panel declaring that its ruling has absolutely nothing to do with the merits and competence of our petition.”
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