JUDGMENT DAY: Ogun State Gubernatorial Election Petition Tribunal, 2023 set to deliver Judgment today.

 “Also elsewhere, Ahmed Aliyu the elected governor of Sokoto State will today Saturday, 30 September 2023 know their fate on the challenge of his election”  ...Read More.

The Ogun State Gubernatorial Election Petition Tribunal (OGSGEPT) fixed today Saturday, 30 September 2023 for judgment in the petition filed by the opposition Peoples Democratic Party and its governorship candidate, Ladi Adebutu, challenging Abiodun’s re-election after the 18 March 2023 governorship poll.

Bulletin1247 gathered from reliable sources that, “the tribunal communicated the date to the parties on Thursday, 28 September, 2023”. Also, the Punch News reported that “the media aide to the PDP governorship candidate, Afolabi Orekoya, confirmed the communiqué”.

Briefing:

The Chairman of the tribunal, Justice Hamidu Kunaza, had reserved the judgment shortly after the two parties adopted their written addresses on September 4, 2023.

Adebutu and PDP are challenging the return of Abiodun as declared by the Independent National Electoral Commission in the 18 March 2023 governorship election.

The Outcome of The Election Petition Tribunal:

The Ogun State governorship election petition tribunal has dismissed as incompetent, the petition brought forth by the PDP governorship flag bearer, Ladi Adebutu, because it stated that INEC "purportedly" declared Prince Dapo Abiodun as the winner of the 18 March 2023 governorship election.

The petition contested the legitimacy of the results declared by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in March as the outcome of the polls against the incumbent governor, Prince Dapo Abiodun.

On Saturday, 30 September 2023, the tribunal concluded that Mr Adebutu’s petition was fatally flawed on the grounds of incompetence hinged upon the fact that the petitioner’s case did not directly address the election results as officially declared by INEC. Rather, Mr Adebutu’s petition had insinuated that the results were “purported,” which, in essence, suggested that he might have come before the tribunal to argue based on mere rumours rather than established facts.

In its ruling, the tribunal asserted, “Petitioners have a duty, as outlined in the Schedule, to plead the election results as officially announced. Regrettably, the petitioners failed to fulfil this duty. Instead, they used the word ‘purportedly’ when describing the election results, a term that, according to the dictionary, implies unverified rumours. Therefore, the court finds that the petitioners should have challenged the officially announced results, not unsubstantiated rumours.”

The solid ground upon which Mr Adebutu built his petition, according to the court, will no longer matter because the legal team referred to the figures as “purported.”