Tribunal affirms Aiyedatiwa as Ondo governor

Ondo State governorship Election Petition Tribunal sitting in Akure, has affirmed the victory of Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa in the November 16, 2024 governorship election in the State.

In its ruling, the tribunal dismissed the petition of dismissed the petitions filed by Action Alliance (AA), Allied People’s Movement (APM), Social Democratic Party (SDP), African Democratic Congress (ADC), and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) against the victory of Aiyedatiwa, his Deputy, Dr Olayide Adelami, All Progressives Congress (APC), and Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

Justice Imelda Etiape led three panels and held that the petitions against the victory of Aiyedatiwa and his deputy were worthless and unmeritorious and were accordingly dismissed.

The PDP candidate, Hon. Agboola Ajayi, and the PDP had challenged the qualification of the Deputy Governor on the ground that the credentials submitted to INEC were forged, alleging that Adelami forged the WAEC school certificate with three different names.

They maintained that, “Since it was on the platform of APC that was used for the election, the verdict would affect that of the governor” and urged the three-man Tribunal to nullify the election because it was held in violation of the Electoral Act.

The petitioner argued that it is a mandatory requirement of the Electoral Act, 2022, Section 73(2), that an election conducted at a polling unit without the prior recording in the forms prescribed by the Commission of the quantity, serial numbers, and other particulars of result sheets, ballot papers and other sensitive electoral materials made available by the Commission (INEC) for the conduct of the election shall be invalid.

The PDP and candidate said in 3,834 Polling Units, which is 97 percent of the 3,933 polling units in the state, and said the non-compliance can be seen on Form EC25B, as serial numbers of the results sheet, BVAS machines, and ballot papers were not recorded on it.

But the Tribunal in its judgment removed the aspects of certificate forgery from the petition on the ground that the case had been decided at the Federal High Court, Appeal, and the Supreme Court and that the parties are bound by the decisions of the court.

According to the Tribunal, the allegations of non-qualification should be uprooted from the election petition since it was a pre-election matter, adding that the paragraphs existing in the address did not address any new issue. It was struck out.

They also held that Form 25B which the referred to by the petitioner never prescribed the entering serial number, saying what is necessary is the quantity of the papers.

The Tribunal said there was no way the court would dabble into the documents that were not identified and demonstrated by the petitioner.

The Tribunal in the the case of over-voting, said the witnesses brought by the petitioner failed to prove or tender BVAS to support their claim.

It declared that ” the allegation of over-voting is not proven and was accordingly dismissed.

Also delivering verdict in the petition filed by the Action Alliance (AA) challenging the victory of Aiyedatiwa, the INEC, and the APC were dismissed by the Tribunal.

In a unanimous ruling, the Tribunal held that the AA lacked the locus standi to challenge the election outcome, having failed to present a candidate in the poll.

The AA and its National Chairman, Mr. Adekunle Rufai Omoaje, through their counsel, had alleged irregularities in the election and accused INEC of deliberately excluding the party’s name and logo from the ballot papers.

However, the lead judgment delivered by Justice Imelda Etiape and supported by Justices Daurabu Sikkam and Benson Ogubu, declared the petition a nullity due to AA’s failure to field a candidate.

The Tribunal further held that the claim of unlawful exclusion is no longer a valid ground for challenging election results, as that provision was repealed with the enactment of the 2010 Electoral Act.

On the allegations of corrupt practices and vote buying, the Tribunal said that while such claims are serious and punishable under the Electoral Act, the petitioners failed to provide credible evidence to substantiate them, rendering the petition legally unsustainable.

Justice Benson Ogubu, who read the lead judgment, said that the allegations of voting without accreditation, over-voting, corrupt practices, and substantial non-compliance with the Electoral Act were not backed by any verifiable facts.

Ogubu 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 Tribunal declared that the APM’s petition lacked merit and that the petitioner was not entitled to any of the reliefs sought and subsequently dismissed the petition with an order for parties to bear their respective costs.

In his reaction to the judgment, Aiyedatiwa said “I give thanks to almighty God who orchestrated the journey right from the beginning and used the people of Ondo State.

“About 366,000 plus indigent residents of Ondo State made a decision on November 16th last year by giving us the mandate to continue to govern the state as the seventh democratically elected governor of Ondo State.

“And that mandate that was given on that day has just been reaffirmed by the election petition tribunal.

“Some other political party thought they could 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.

“So I’m so delighted and happy myself and my deputy and the chairman of our party, our progressive congress. We thank God for everything.

“We have always extended that to them even on the first day when I was declared the winner. Part of my speech was for them to come and join us since they have intention of contributing to the development of the state, that they can join us in their ideas that they have, and they can bring it on board so that we can work together.

Also, reacting, the Secretary of the PDP, Oluseye Olujimi said ” 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 judgment 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.

Also speaking, the APC chairman, Ade Adetimehin, congratulated the governor and the people of the state for the victory and urged the opposition parties to join hands with the ruling party to move the state forward and desist from distracting the governor by going to the Appeal Court.

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