Tribunal dismisses PDP’s petition, upholds Ogun Speaker’s election

The National and State House of Assembly Election Petition Tribunal sitting in Abeokuta, Ogun State has affirmed the Speaker of State House Assembly, Olakunle Oluomo, as duly elected member representing Ifo Constituency 1.

The three-member panel in a unanimous decision on Monday dismissed the petition filed by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate in the March 18 election, Yusuf Ogundele.

The candidate of the PDP had asked the tribunal to declare him winner in the state assembly constituency, arguing that the Speaker was not duly elected by the majority votes.

The opponent alleged that APC’s Oluomo was not duly elected by the majority of the valid vote cast and that the election was not in compliance with the provisions of the Electoral Act 2022.

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The Chairman of the tribunal, Justice Samuel Ayiwulu, in a lead judgement held that the petitioners failed to bring eyewitnesses to court to prove the case of alleged non accreditation, improper accreditation, over-voting, inflation of votes and improper accounting of electoral materials used during the elections.

Ayiwulu and two other members of the panel held that the two witnesses brought to tribunal by the PDP were not competent and lacked probative value on the matter.

The panel held that the witnesses were neither an eyewitness from the poling units nor experts in electoral matter who could have given credence to the petition.

The tribunal therefore dismissed the petition for lacking in merit and affirmed the declaration of Oluomo of APC as the validly elected lawmaker representing Ifo 1 Constituency in Ogun State.

Daily Trust reports that the election in Ifo Constituency I was inconclusive on March 18, but a rerun took place on April 15, after which Oluomo was declared winner by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).