Ibekimi Oriamaja Reports
COUNSELS FOR THE SDP’s governorship candidate in the June 18 election in Ekiti State, Mr. Segun Oni, accused the All Progressives Congress, APC’s governor-elect, Mr. Biodun Oyebanji, of stalling the start of the Election Petition Tribunal yesterday.
Oyebanji’s actions, according to Oni’s lawyers, were a deliberate attempt to delay the filing of the SDP candidate’s petition against his victory before the Tribunal.
The counsels also claimed that due to a lack of fixed addresses, the Yobe State Governor and former APC National Caretaker Chairman, Mai Mala Buni, and Oyebanji’s Deputy, Monisade Afuye, were difficult to serve.
Oni had petitioned the Ado-Ekiti Tribunal on July 7, 2022, requesting that the declaration of Oyebanji as the election winner be reversed.
The governor-elect received 187,045 votes in the election, defeating Oni, who received 82,122 votes.
Speaking to journalists in Ado Ekiti, Oni’s legal team, led by Obafemi Adewale, SAN, expressed confidence that Oni will be declared the election winner at the Tribunal given the avalanche of evidence to be presented to substantiate their claim of widespread election rigging.
“Fact speaks for itself,” Adewale said through Owoseeni Ajayi, a former Attorney-General and Justice Commissioner in Ekiti. Segun Oni should have been declared the winner because he received the most valid votes, but this was not possible due to widespread irregularities in the election.
“We filed our petition on July 7, within the Electoral Act’s time limit.” Since then, we’ve had service issues.
“INEC was served without delay. In Abuja, the APC was also served without restriction. When the primary candidate, Governor Mai Mala Buni, was elected, we had a problem serving the governor-elect, Biodun Oyebanji, his deputy, Monisade Afuye, and the caretaker chairman of the party.
“These respondents had purposefully avoided service.” We must complete the petition within 181 days, so time is of the essence in any election petition.”
