The Ogun State governorship election petition tribunal has dismissed the petition filed by Ladi Adebutu, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate, challenging the victory of incumbent governor Dapo Abiodun. The tribunal ruled that Adebutu’s petition was legally flawed due to his use of the term “purported” when referring to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) results.
Adebutu’s petition had contested the legitimacy of the election results declared by INEC in March, alleging irregularities such as cancelled votes, fake ballot papers, overvoting, and the failure to use the Biometric Verification Authentication System (BVAS).
However, the tribunal’s focus shifted to the use of the word “purported” in his petition, which implied that he might be relying on unverified rumors rather than established facts.
As a result, the tribunal found the petition legally incompetent due to this fundamental flaw.
In a recent development, the Akwa Ibom electoral petition tribunal has upheld the election of Umo Eno as the governor of the state. The decision was reached following a verdict delivered on Friday by the tribunal, which dismissed the petition filed by Albert Bassey and his party, the Young Progressives Party (YPP).
The tribunal, led by Adekunle Adeleye, unanimously ruled that the issue of Eno’s qualification had already been settled by the supreme court. Furthermore, it was stated that the petitioners lacked the authority to challenge the manner in which the PDP conducted its primaries to select a candidate.
Additionally, the tribunal determined that Eno had not presented a fraudulent WAEC certificate, as alleged by the petitioners. According to the court, a WAEC official summoned as a witness confirmed the authenticity of the certificates. The court emphasized that without a disclaimer from the issuing authority, the certificates remain valid.
The tribunal also addressed the issue of name arrangement on documents, stating that there is no specific legislation in Nigeria dictating the order of a person’s name on a document.
Given that no other individual claimed the 1981 and 1983 WAEC certificates, the court concluded that they belonged to Governor Umo Eno. The court pointed out that even the first petitioner had inconsistencies in the arrangement of his name on various documents.
In summary, the tribunal dismissed Bassey’s petition, deeming it frivolous and without merit. Notably, on the preceding day, the tribunal also rejected the petition filed by Akanimo Udofia, the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate.