By Joy Akinsanya
The National and State House of Assembly Elections Petitions Tribunal sitting in Abeokuta on Monday dismissed the petition filed against the Speaker of Ogun House Assembly, Olakunle Oluomo.
In dismissing the petition filed by the Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP), the tribunal affirmed that Oluomo was a duly elected member representing Ifo State Constituency.
The three-member panel, in a unanimous decision, dismissed the petition filed by the PDP candidate, Yusuf Ogundele, in the March 18 election.
The PDP candidate had asked the tribunal to declare him winner of the election, arguing that the Speaker was not duly elected by the majority votes.
He alleged that APC’s Oluomo was not duly elected by the majority of the valid votes cast and that the election was not in compliance with the provisions of Electoral Act 2022.
Chairman of the tribunal, Justice Samuel Ayiwulu, held that the petitioners failed to bring eye-witnesses to court to prove the case of alleged non-accreditation.
They could also not prove I mproper accreditation, over-voting, inflation of number of votes and improper accounting of electoral materials used during the elections.
However, Ayiwulu and two other members of the panel held that the two witnesses brought to tribunal by 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 matters 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 Constituency 1 in Ogun.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the Ifo Constituency I election was declared 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).(NAN)
