Tribunal Dismisses Petition Challenging Ondo APC Rep, Akinfolarin’s Victory
The 2019 National and state house of Assembly elections petition tribunal in Ondo state on Friday dismissed the petition of Abayomi Akinfemiwa of the peoples Democratic party seeking the upturn of the election of Mayowa Akinfolarin of the All progressives Congress for ileoluji Okeigbo/Odigbo federal constituency.
The three man panel headed by justice Nuhu Adi said the petitioner could not prove his allegation of malpractices and non compliance to the electoral act during the February 2019 National Assembly elections.
The judgement which lasted for over two hours was read by Jutice Victor Okorie, who took time to appraise the submissions of counsels to the petitioner and the respondents.
The tribunal held that the testimony of the petitioner and some of his principal witnesses did not correspond with their statement on oath and as such could not hold water.
The justices noted that the onus lies on the petitioner to prove his case beyond reasonable doubt even if INEC, the third respondent, refuses to call any witness.
The tribunal also held that the petitioner failed to establish the allegation of over voting in some polling units, non accreditation and other forms of non-compliance to the 2010 electoral act as amended.
It therefore described the petition as lacking in merit, struck it out and upheld the election of Mayowa Akinfolarin as duly elected representative for ile oluji oke igbo/Odigbo federal constituency.
Reacting to the Judgement in a statement sent to Nigerian Cable News online, Hon. Mayowa Akinfolarin Appreciated the support of his constituents who stood by him through the election and court process, while calling on his challenger to join hands with him and develop his constituency.
His said:
“The victory of today is not for me but for all the good people of our federal constituency who stood firm by us before, during, after the election and during the tribunal. I say congratulations to you all and pray that God will reward you all.”
“To my dear brother, Akinfemiwa Abayomi, I appreciate you for the brotherly love you have displayed. I must say that together we can do it. It is not what I can do alone. I call on you to let us join hands together to lift our people to the next level of peace, development and empowerment, let us forget the past and see ourselves working together for the good of our people, we are one and we will remain one.”
With the resolution of the akinfemiwa versus Akinfolarin petition, there are three more cases to be dispensed out of the 7 filed before the tribunal within its 180 days lifeline.
