Ekiti Tribunal Upholds Oyebanji’s Election
The Ekiti State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal sitting in Ado Ekiti has upheld the victory of the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Biodun Oyebanji, in the June governorship election in the state.
The Ekiti State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal has upheld Biodun Oyebanji’s victory at the governorship election held on 18th June 2022.
Oyebanji, former Secretary to the State Government (SSG), was declared winner of the election after securing victory in 15 of the 16 local government areas of the state.
The governor, who was the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), had 187,057 votes, defeating Segun Oni who polled 82,211 votes, and Bisi Kolawole of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), who got 67,457 votes.
Dissatisfied with the outcome of the poll, Oni filed a petition against Oyebanji and the APC before the three-member tribunal chaired by Wilfred Kpochi.
Oni had claimed in his petition that Oyebanji’s election was characterised by irregularities.
He also argued that it was wrong for the Mai Mala Buni-led APC leadership to have supervised the primary that produced Oyebanji as the governorship candidate.
Additionally, he alleged that Monisade Afuye, now Ekiti State Deputy Governor, presented fake WAEC results to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
Delivering the judgment on Thursday, the panel dismissed Oni’s petition.
Kpochi, Chairman of the Tribunal, held that Oni failed to prove the allegations against the respondents.
“The validity of the certificate or qualification of the 5th respondent (Afuye) remains unhurt,” the judge held.
“The petitioners have been unable to prove that she presented a forged certificate.
“We dismiss the issue of corrupt practices in the election. The appellants did not call any witness from any polling unit or ward.”
Oyebanji had polled a total of 187,057 votes to defeat his two closest challengers – Segun Oni of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) and Bisi Kolawole of the People’s Democratic Party.
The SDP emerged in second place with total votes of 82,211 while the PDP was third with 67,457 votes.
Unsatisfied with the outcome of the election, SDP’s Oni had on 7th July filed a petition at the Tribunal challenging the declaration of the APC candidate, Biodun Oyebanji, by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) as the winner of the election.
He hinged his case on alleged election rigging, voter inducement and bypass of the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) at some polling stations; the authenticity of the WAEC certificate presented by the deputy governorship candidate of the APC, Monisade Afuye, among other grounds.
