PDP will appeal Ogun tribunal verdict

The Deputy Governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party in the March 23, 2023, governorship election in Ogun State, Abdulkabir Akinlade, has said that he and his principal, Oladipupo Adebutu, will appeal the judgment of the Election Petitions Tribunal sitting in Isabo, Abeokuta, the state capital.

The tribunal had struck out the petition filed against the state governor, Dapo Abiodun of the All Progressive Congress.

Adebutu had filed a petition to the state Election Petitions Tribunal challenging the victory of Abiodun and the legitimacy of the gubernatorial election held in the state on March 23, 2023.

This was contained in a statement signed by Akinlade’s media aide, Azeez Adelani, and made available to journalists on Sunday.

According to him, the judgment of the tribunal was just a temporary setback that his party and principal would get back from.

The statement read in part, “The PDP Deputy Governorship candidate in the 2023 Ogun State Gubernatorial Election, Hon. Adekunle Abdulkabir Akinlade while reacting to the state election petition tribunal judgment delivered in favor of Gov. Dapo Abiodun on the 30th of September 2023, said that, “as a people and party, we must take solace in three fact’s: first, that the Tribunal is the court of first instance, secondly, that we are blessed with a resolute leader and lastly, that time, which is the determinant of all things, is on our side.”

It read further, “Hon. Akinlade who contested against the incumbent governor in 2019, further stated that every bruise must be treated as a mark for improvement. He said that according the the late sage, Chief Obafemi Awolowo, it is not how many times a man falls or fails that matters, but his ability to rise each time, learn from his mistakes and forge ahead.

“In 2022, they threw everything they had at us, got our candidates and party (PDP) removed from INEC list with the intention of stopping us from participating in the 2023 general elections, they went to town saying that there was no opposition in Ogun State, but we turned to God, fought courageously and the courts reinstated us. Fast forward to March 2023, they arrested our members and blackmailed and threatened our leader, but we prevailed at the polls.

“Against all odds and intents, we pushed through the obstacles placed before us and called 94 witnesses including experts, presented over 200,000 certified documents in evidence, and argued our case before the election petition tribunal efficiently. We said from inception that the alleged issue of vote buying was nothing more than a ploy to distract us and the panel mercifully ruled in our favour yesterday, 30th September 2023.

“As we commence the process of filling our notice of appeal at the Court of Appeal, we assure our teaming supporters and the good people of Ogun State that we will not relent in our resolve to get justice and that we will explore and deploy every resources at our disposal to right this injustice in the collective interest of our dear state.”

The PUNCH reported that the state governorship Election Petitions Tribunal sitting in Isabo, Abeokuta, on Saturday night upheld the victory of Abiodun as declared by INEC after the March 18 governorship election in the state.

Delivering the 11-hour judgment, the Chairman of the Tribunal, Hamidu Kunaza, said the petitioner, the Peoples Democratic Party governorship candidate in the election, Ladipupo Adebutu, and his party failed to prove their case beyond reasonable doubt.

Adebutu had asked the tribunal to quash Abiodun’s victory for not complying with the Electoral Act of 2022 and for not being qualified to have contested the 2023 governorship election in the state.

In the alternative, the petitioner prayed for an order of the tribunal directing the first respondent (INEC) to conduct a fresh election in the 99 polling units which cut across 41 wards and 16 Local Government Areas of the state where elections were either not held and/or cancelled due to disruption and over-voting.

Kunaza while affirming Abiodun’s victory as declared by INEC on March 20, 2023, said that the petition of the petitioners lacked merit and was therefore “dismissed.”