The Ogun State Governorship Election Petitions Tribunal has fixed Saturday, September 30, to deliver judgment on the petition filed by the Peoples Democratic Party ( PDP) candidate, Oladipupo Adebutu, against the victory of Governor Dapo Abiodun in the March 18 election.
This is according to a notice of judgment sent to their legal representatives on Thursday by the Secretary of the tribunal.
INEC had declared Abiodun of the All Progressives Congress (APC) the winner of the governorship election, having polled 276,298 votes to defeat Adebutu, who scored 262,383 votes.
Adebutu, in the petition marked EPT/OG/GOV/03/2023, challenged the victory of the incumbent governor, bordering on alleged non-compliance with the provisions of the Electoral Act and electoral malpractice during the poll.
-Advertisement-
Counsel to Adebutu, Goddy Uche, presented the documents in various Ghana-must-go bags before the tribunal at the Magistrates’ Court, Isabo, Abeokuta.
He explained that the presentation of the exhibits followed the court’s instruction at the pre-hearing stage that both petitioners and respondents should present their documents for their cases.
Uche said that he had served the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Abiodun and APC, being the first, second and third respondents, respectively, with the 98-page schedule of documents.
READ ALSO: JUST IN: Tribunal dismisses APGA’s suit against Ebonyi gov
He added that he had also listed all the tendered documents, including INEC forms, ECAs, voters’ registers, and printed IREV results before the court.
In March, Adebutu said he was confident the tribunal would overturn the victory handed to Governor Dapo Abiodun by INEC.
Adebutu also described the Ogun governorship election as the worst in the history of the country’s democracy.
He said: “What I saw in the elections is the politics of intimidation, harassment and subversion. It was the first time in the history of our democracy that people were harassed, intimidated and threatened not to come out to vote.
“Lots of injustice was perpetrated. I feel very aggrieved because we saw lots of inconsistencies. We are law-abiding; before they (INEC) made that declaration, we informed them. We petitioned them to show that that declaration was wrongful.”
We do everything possible to supply quality news and information to all our valuable readers day in, day out and we are committed to keep doing this.
Your kind donation will help our continuous research efforts.
-Advertisement-
-Want to get the news as it breaks?-
