Breaking: Oyebanji defeats Segun Oni as tribunal dismisses petition

The Ekiti State Governorship Election Petitions Tribunal sitting in Ado Ekiti has upheld the victory of the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Biodun Oyebanji, in the June governorship election in the state.

Oyebanji had polled a total of 187,057 votes to defeat his two closest rivals, Segun Oni of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) and Bisi Kolawole of the Peoples Democratic Party.

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The SDP emerged in second place with total votes of 82,211 while the PDP was third with 67,457 votes.

Oni of the Social Democratic Party on July 7 filed a petition at the tribunal challenging the declaration of the APC candidate, Biodun Oyebanji, by the Independent National Electoral Commission as the winner of the election.

In his petition, Oni had claimed that Oyebanji’s election was characterised by irregularities.

He also argued that it was wrong for the Mai Mala Buni-led APC leadership to have supervised the primary election process that led to Oyebanji’s emergence as the APC candidate.