Connect with us

Hi, what are you looking for?

News

Ondo Governorship Election Tribunal Begins Sitting

Chairman of Ondo State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal, Justice Benson Ogubu, has assured all parties in the November 16 governorship election of fair hearing and justice.

Justice Ogubu gave the assurance at the inaugural sitting and pretrial conference of the tribunal in Akure, the state capital.

Other members of the tribunal include Justice Daurabu Sikkam and Imelda Etiape.

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), All Progressives Congress (APC), and Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), are to present 149 witnesses before the tribunal.

All their lawyers agreed to call 149 witnesses.

Of the figures, PDP would call 43, INEC 19, and Aiyedatiwa 32.

APC and Adelami would call 20 and 35 witnesses, respectively.

Candidate of the PDP in the November 16 governorship election, Agboola Ajayi, and the party, through their counsel, Ishaka Dikko, filed a petition against the election that produced Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa of the APC as the winner.

Other political parties that filed petitions include the Social Democratic Party (SDP) and the African Democratic Congress (ADC).

The petitioners are asking the tribunal to cancel the outcome of the exercise, saying the results did not reflect the wishes of the electorate. They also claimed that APC candidates were not qualified for the polls.
However, the respondents, in their replies, said the issue of qualifications has been determined at the Federal High Court and the Federal Court of Appeal.

They asked the tribunal to dismiss the petitions.

Governor Aiyedatiwa, his deputy, Dr Olayide Adelami, state party Chairman, Ade Adetimehin, and other top politicians across the political divides witnessed the inaugural sitting and pretrial conference.

Representing the petitioners at the tribunal were Ishaka Dikko and Bankole Joy Akomolafe, SAN.

Charles Edosan, Bode Olanipekun, H.O. Afolabi and Tayo Oyetibo,SAN, represented the respondents, including INEC, APC, Aiyedatiwa, and Adelami.

Speaking during the inaugural sitting, Justice Ogubu, urged the counsels not to preempt the decisions of the tribunal, adding that they should not be in a haste to address the press but should wait until the final decision of the tribunal.

According to him, “the use of phones or any device in recording and capturing the tribunal’s proceedings and the faces of justices will not be allowed.’’

February 10 was fixed for the counsel to the parties to file all their applications, preliminary objections, and reply on the point of law for the case to proceed without delay.

Speaking to newsmen after the sitting, Governor Aiyedatiwa reiterated his confidence in the credibility of the election, stating that the people of Ondo State voted overwhelmingly for the right candidate.

____

Follow us on Twitter at @thesignalng

Copyright 2025 SIGNAL. Permission to use portions of this article is granted provided appropriate credits are given to  www.signalng.com and other relevant sources.

Click to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Advertisement

Related

News

The Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, has raised concerns over the lack of internal democracy within political parties, warning...

News

The pan-Yoruba socio-political group, Afenifere, maintained on Wednesday that Pa Reuben Fasoranti is the group’s only national leader. This was disclosed by the Organising...

News

The Ukum local government area office of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) was on Wednesday completely razed by youths protesting the activities of...

News

A former Deputy Clerk of the National Assembly, Olayide Owolabi Adelami, has been nominated as the new Deputy Governor of Ondo State. Adelami’s nomination...

Copyright ©