Victor Ogunje in Ado Ekiti
The Election Petition Tribunal handling the dispute that emanated from the conduct of the June 18, 2022 governorship election in Ekiti State, yesterday wrapped up its sitting as the parties adopted their written addresses.
The Justice Kpochi-led three-man tribunal promised to communicate the judgment day to all the parties after the adoption.
The candidate of the Social Democratic Party (SDP), Mr. Segun Oni, is challenging the victory of Governor Biodun Oyebanji and All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate in the poll.
Oni and the SDP are the 1st and 2nd Petitioners in case, while the respondents are Oyebanji (1st), the APC (2nd), Yobe State Governor Mai Mala Buni, in his capacity as the Chairman of the APC Caretaker Extraordinary Convention Planning Committee (3rd), INEC (4th) and the Deputy Governor, Mrs Monisade Afuye (5th).
Oyebanji polled a total of 187,057 to defeat Oni, who garnered 82,211 votes to emerge second.
In the petition, Oni through his Lead Counsel, Mr. Owoseeni Ajayi, told the tribunal that the APC had no candidate in the last June 18 Ekiti governorship election on account of the fact that the primary that produced him was invalid.
He based this on the fact that the Chairman of the APC National Caretaker Committee and Yobe State Governor, Mai Mala Buni, who conducted the primary, was wrongly and illegally appointed to act in that position.
Oni said that Buni, who signed the nomination form for Oyebanji , and who also superintended over the APC governorship primaries, contravened Section 183 of the 1999 Constitution by accepting to be the APC National Caretaker Chairman.
According to Oni, Section 183 of the 1999 Constitution stated explicitly that “a sitting governor shall not accept any other executive position while in office.”
Also “on the allegation by the petitioner that Mrs. Monisade Afuye, presented fake WAEC result to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Section 136 of the Evidence Act placed the burden of proof on Mrs. Afuye to defend herself of the allegation and since she refused to come to the tribunal to clear herself of the allegation, her quietness and refusal to defend herself of the allegation is admission of guilt in law.”
But Oyebanji maintained that Oni and SDP have failed woefully to sufficiently discharge the burden of proof on them to convince the tribunal that the election did not comply with the provisions of the Electoral Act and the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 as amended.
Oyebanji and Afuye (1st and 5th Respondents) through their counsel, Prof. Kayode Olatoke (SAN), told the tribunal that their written address was dated October 29, and filed on October 30, and adopted same before the tribunal as evidence that the election of his clients be affirmed.
The governor and the deputy governor further told the tribunal through their counsels that they filed their reply on point of law, which was dated and filed on November 11, upon the receipt of the petitioners’ written address.
The counsel argued that it is trite in law that the burden of proof is strictly on the petitioner(s) in election petition cases, noting that “in the instance petition, the Petitioners failed woefully to discharge same.”
