*Oni Kicks, to appeal judgement
*Oyebanji tells Oni to return to APC, dedicates victory to God, Ekiti people*Ekiti Deputy Gov hails victory, woos opposition
*Fayemi congratulates gov, calls on opposition to sheathe-the-sword
Gbenga Sodeinde in Ado Ekiti
The Election Petition Tribunal hearing the petition arising from the June 18 governorship election in Ekiti State yesterday upheld the election of Governor Biodun Oyebanji and his deputy, Mrs. Monisade Afuye in a judgment which lasted two hours and 30 minutes.
But the petitioner, Chief Segun Oni of the Social Democratic Party ( SDP) has rejected the ruling, saying nothing will prevent him from appealing the judgement.
The Tribunal in a judgment dismissed the petition filed by former governor and the SDP governorship candidate, Oni resolving all issues in favour of the Respondents.
Oni, who was aggrieved with the declaration of Oyebanji, who ran on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC) by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), as the elected governor of Ekiti State filed a petition against the result declared by INEC in the early hours of June 19.
In the unanimous judgment read by the Chairman of the Tribunal, Justice Wilfred Kpochi with the concurrence of the two other members of the panel, Justice Sa’ad Zadawa and Justice J.A. Atsen, the panel held that “head or tail, the petitioners (Oni and SDP) have failed woefully” to convince the jury to nullify the election that brought Oyebanji to power.
The Tribunal ruled that Oni himself in his evidence admitted and agreed that Oyebanji and Afuye were validly nominated and sponsored by their party hence it could not set aside their nomination and candidacy as confirmed by his testimony and evidence before it.
Oni’s case had started to crumble as the Panel earlier ruled on some motions upon which verdict was pending before determining the merit of the petition holding that the petitioners have failed to prove the allegations that Oyebanji and Afuye were not qualified to run for the offices of the governor and the deputy governor respectively.
Respondents in the petition are Oyebanji (1st), APC (2nd), Yobe State Governor, Alhaji Mai Mala Buni in his capacity as the National Chairman of the APC Caretaker/Extraordinary Convention Planning Committee (3rd), INEC (4th) and Afuye (5th).
Oni’s petition was anchored on whether Oyebanji and Afuye were qualified to have contested at the polls; whether they were validly nominated by their party, the APC; whether Mala Buni had the authority to sign their nomination papers and forward same to INEC; whether Afuye possessed the right academic certificates to run for Deputy Governor alleging that they were forged and whether the election was not vitiated by corrupt practices.
The panel ruled against the challenge of the petitioners (Oni and the SDP) against the January 27 APC primary that produced Oyebanji holding the governor and his deputy were duly and validly nominated by their party (APC) to contest in the June 18 main governorship election.
According to the Tribunal, Oni’s averment that the Ekiti APC governorship primary election which produced Oyebanji as the flag bearer was superintended over by the National Caretaker Executive Committee under the leadership of Buni does not hold water as the votes which gave him the mandate were cast by party members and not Mala Buni.
Ruling on Oni’s position that Mala Buni and the then Secretary of APC CECPC, Dr. John Akpanudoedehe signing the nomination papers of Oyebanji and Afuye, invalidated their nomination as governorship and deputy governorship candidates respectively, the Tribunal described the petitioner’s objection as “lame.”
The Tribunal held that the issue of Buni’s signing of letter of the party’s sponsorship of Oyebanji to INEC in his capacity as the National Chairman of APC CECPC while holding office as Yobe State Governor had been decided by the nation’s highest court, the Supreme Court.
The Tribunal ruled that Supreme Court had held in the case of Eyitayo Jegede vs INEC describing such an issue as an internal affairs of the party and further held that it is not within the jurisdiction of the Election Petition Tribunal.
The Tribunal held that in deference to the earlier judgment of the Supreme Court, Mala Buni in his capacity as Yobe State Governor cannot be sued as he enjoys constitutional immunity in line with Section 308 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999
The Tribunal said it lacked the propriety to inquire into the role played by Mala Buni in the internal affairs of his party moreso when the case had been settled by both the Supreme Court in the Eyitayo Jegede case and the Court of Appeal in the Gboyega Oyetola case which was decided recently.
The Tribunal ruled: “It was the party members who voted at the primary and not the person that signed the nomination papers. The 3rd Respondent (Mala Buni) merely co-signed the letter and formally informed the 4th Respondent (INEC).
“The decision is that of the 2nd Respondent (APC) and not that of the 3rd Respondent (Mala Buni) and the matter has been decided by the Supreme Court. The decision to nominate candidates is jointly carried out by the congress of the party, voting is done by members.
“The decision is not taken by the National Executive Committee of the political party. The National Executive of the party submitted the names (of the candidates) to the 4th Respondent (INEC), it was a notice to the 4th Respondent, an official communication to the 4th Respondent.
“That issue has been settled by the Supreme Court and we shall be swimming against the tide of the decision of the superior court if we resolve the issue in favour of the Petitioners.”
Ruling on Oni’s allegation of certificate forgery levelled against Afuye which the petitioners claimed had disqualified her from running, the Tribunal held that “the petitioners have a duty to prove that the 5th Respondent (Afuye) does not have valid certificates to stand as deputy governorship candidate.”
The Tribunal held that the petitioners attempted to invoke the issue of forgery as an afterthought and the prayer is invalid by the fact that it was introduced against the 5th Respondent in the petitioners’ additional statement on oath and not contained in the main petition filed.
It noted that the allegation of forgery was raised against Afuye by Mr Dada Moses Bamidele Petitioners Witness 2 (PW2) and the 1st Petitioner, Oni, who was PW3 after the window for filing of the petition had closed and it could not be smuggled in with the filing of the additional witness on oath in reply to the Respondents witness on oath.
The Tribunal ruled that by doing so, the petitioners had acted in breach of Paragraph 11A of their Petition that forbade them from introducing a new matter after the window to do so had lapsed when their petition was filed adding that such an allegation must be proved beyond the reasonable doubt.
The Tribunal ruled that the Petitioners did an incalculable damage to their case by failing to call the examination body, the West African Examinations Council (WAEC) to give evidence and prove that school certificate of the deputy governor was forged, adding that evidence given by Bamidele and Oni were hearsay.
“The allegation (against the deputy governor) must be proved beyond the reasonable doubt. The next issue for the petitioners was to have called WAEC to give evidence hence the evidence of PW2 and PW3 (Bamidele and Oni) will be hearsay even if not swept away by our ruling in an earlier motion. They testified that they had never worked with WAEC,” the Tribunal held.
The Tribunal further ruled that the 1st and the 5th Respondents were qualified to run for the offices of the governor and the deputy governor respectively and the testimony of Oni that they were not qualified holds no water as the SDP candidate had admitted while being cross-examined by counsel to the Respondents that the duo (Oyebanji and Afuye) were validly nominated by their political party (the APC).
The Tribunal held that having admitted while giving evidence that Oyebanji and Afuye were validly nominated, Oni’s testimony was “inconsistent and self-defeating” with his prayer in his additional statement on oath before the Tribunal that they were not qualified to run.
“The evidence of PW3 (Oni) that he was sponsored by the SDP and that the 1st and the 5th Respondents were sponsored by the APC has sounded a death knell on the petition of the 1st Petitioner (Oni),” the Tribunal held in part.
The Tribunal also dismissed the allegation of corrupt practices across the places where election was held in the election levelled by Oni holding that “it is incumbent on him (Oni) to prove same beyond the reasonable doubt as the allegation was criminal in nature.”
Besides, the Panel held that Oni and the SDP failed to call witnesses from the units, wards and local government areas where such alleged corrupt practices to give evidence to prove the alleged corrupt practices maintaining that “such must be proved unit-by-unit, ward-by-ward.”
The Tribunal held that since the Petitioners have failed to provide any evidence to disqualify the 1st and the 5th Respondents, they were qualified to contest in the June 18 governorship election and the votes recorded for them and the results declared by the 4th Respondent (INEC) are valid.
The Tribunal further ruled that INEC conducted a free and fair election which was in compliance with the Election Act (as amended) and the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 hence it has resolved all issues in favour of the Respondents.
“Head or tail, the petitioners have woefully failed to convince us to resolve all issues in their favour. We confirmed that the election that returned the 1st and 5th Respondents as Governor and deputy governor was conducted in substantial compliance with the Electoral Act and the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
“The petition is hereby dismissed,” said Justice Zadawa who read the latter part of the judgment.
In the result declared by INEC, Oyebanji of the APC polled 187,057 votes to defeat Oni of the SDP who scored 82,211 while the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Chief Bisi Kolawole came third with 57,457 votes in an election that was contested by 16 candidates.
Dissatisfied with the result, Oni filed a petition on July 7 at the Tribunal Registry challenging the return of Oyebanji as the poll winner by INEC.
Oni who had approached the tribunal to challenge Oyebanji’s emergence at the poll, vowed to seek justice at the Appeal Court to reclaim his stolen mandate.
The Tribunal had in a unanimous ruling read by its Chairman, Justice Wilfred Kpochi dismissed Oni’s petition for lack of merit.
The tribunal claimed that the petitioner failed to proved his case beyond all the reasonable doubts that the election was characterised by alleged vote buying an electoral malpractice.
But in a swift reaction, Oni through his counsel Mr. Owoseni Ajayi said that nothing would prevent the party from heading for the Appeal Court based on the strength of its case.
“We are definitely going to file appeal against the judgment. You should know that we have three legs of court, this is the first, we have the Court of Appeal, we also have the Supreme Court.
“We are definitely going to appeal and superior courts will touch the areas where the tribunal deliberately left unattended to. That is our position and that is our comment.
“These people should rejoice minimally because you will realise that most of the petitions where governors were removed were done by the Supreme Court. In the case of Zamfara State, the APC governor won in the lower court, won in the court of appeal, but the Supreme Court removed him.
“In the case of Bayelsa State, they won at the lower court, they won at the court of appeal, Supreme Court dethroned them. Even the case of Wike, it was the Supreme court that enthroned him, so, I will advise them to minimally rejoice over this,” he said.
However, counsel to Oyebanji and former Attorney General, Olawale Fapohunda, commended the judgement, calling on Oni to accept the tribunal’s judgment in good fate and support the governor in his quest to make Ekiti great.
He said: “Judgment has been delivered, every fair person who listened to the judgment will agree that it was fair, balanced and it affirmed existing authorities particularly those recently decided by the Supreme Court.
“I think what is more important to states is that we are all winners. I think the governor has never seen this as ‘us versus them’ and this affirms the need for all of us to come together and work for the progress of the state. I think that is what is important.
“We are all winners, it is time now to look away from the court and focus on what our people really want – good governance. I am sure that very soon, the governor will also be reaching out to Segun Oni to join him in ensuring that the needs of our people are bettered.
“There were a number of issues, the issue of Yobe State Governor Mai Buni was raised, the tribunal did justice to that matter by saying that it was not Buni himself that put candidates forward but APC. The issue of the certificate of the deputy governor which was a major issue raised by the petitioner was also dealt with and it is clear that the allegation that she is not qualified was not valid at all.”
Reacting to his Victory, Governor Oyebanji, who dedicated his tribunal victory to Almighty God and the people of the state, said his victory at the court is a validation of what they did during the election, while commending the judiciary for upholding the victory of the party.
He called on Oni to join hands with him to develop the state, stressing that he has no opponent when it comes to the issue of Ekiti state.
“I actually have no opponent when it comes to matters of Ekiti State. Ekiti is a small state, we are homogeneous, we are one, and the right I have to the governorship seat is the right every indigenes of the state has to that office. I see it as a contest, and I hereby call on Segun Oni to join hands with me to develop the state. He’s my leader, I have absolute respect for him, and that respect has not diminished. So I will be linking up with him to work together”.
Oyebanji further said Oni was part and parcel of the APC before he pitched his tent with the SDP, adding that he would ensure Oni returns to his former party”.
He said he had not been distracted by anything, stressing that he had been facing the job Ekiti people entrusted on him, noting that he has a duty to ensure he implements his manifestoes and the contract he signed with the people of the state.
The governor added that the legal tussle must not be an excuse for not performing, saying the past 70 something days in office has been exciting, and his administration has put together building blocks that will lead to rapid development of the state adding that he would not be distracted.
The governor appreciated the good people of Ekiti State for the confidence reposed in him to steer the ship of the state to a safety harbour.
In the same the deputy governor, while reacting to the victory, during a victory prayer held by management and staff of her office, commended the judiciary for preventing the will of the people from being subverted by the defeated opposition party.
The Ekiti’s number two citizen, in a statement by her Special Assistant Media, Victor Ogunje, said this judicial victory had further amplified and firmly attested to the fact that Oyebanji won the June 18,2022 governorship election fairly and squarely.
She said with this resounding verdict, the judiciary, had again, proven to be bastion, fortress and great defender of democracy.
Mrs Afuye insisted that Governor Oyebanji was freely given the mandate by electorate to serve them, and that no force would be given the leeway to hijack such, since ultimate power belongs to the people under an ideal democracy.
“We are happy about this. No case is too small when it comes to election petition. Our victory was made possible by God, and the prayers of all Ekiti people. This support must continue.
“As I salute the judiciary for mustering the vigour and acted valiantly to deliver a resounding judgement on the issue emanating from the conduct of the Ekiti governorship poll, let me call on the opposition to join hands with Governor Oyebanji to take Ekiti to the deserved destination of prosperity, progress and development.
“Ekiti State belongs to all of us, let us join hands with the government of the day to make Ekiti better and greater.
“We also appreciate and commend the opposition for not resorting to anarchy in seeking redress in the electoral matter. Resorting to court remains the best practice in democracy to seek redress on any contentious issue.
“But now that the matter had been resolved, they should contribute their quota in building Ekiti of our dream.
“I salute our party members, leaders across the state and Nigeria and all Ekiti people for standing by Governor Oyebanji. We are assuring you that we will not let you down.
“Governor Oyebanji and his team will rev the pedal of development by being diligent, transparent and zealously committed to good governance “.
Meanwhile, the immediate past Governor of Ekiti State and President of the Forum of Regions of Africa (FORAF), Dr Kayode Fayemi, has congratulated Governor Oyebanji on his victory at the tribunal.
In a statement by Head, Fayemi Media Office, Abuja, Mallam Ahmad Sajoh, and made available to THISDAY, Fayemi said the victory was for all Ekiti people and invited the opposition to abandon further litigations and work together with the Governor for the growth and development of the state.
The statement read: “I wish to congratulate the Governor of Ekiti State, Mr. Biodun Oyebanji on his victory at the Ekiti State Governorship Election Petitions Tribunal, which declared him the validly elected governor of the state.
‘’I had no doubt that the June gubernatorial election which gave birth to his government was free and fair and would pass any judicial scrutiny. With this ruling, I call on members of the opposition to join hands with the governor for the growth and development of the state.
‘’Our political affiliations may be different, but we are all Ekiti people and should work together for the good of our state.
‘’I hope the verdict of this court put to rest further litigations about the gubernatorial election, so we can have a stable political climate in which the governor and his team can concentrate on the real task of providing developmental solutions to our people. I congratulate the people of Ekiti for the victory is really theirs.’’
