Politics
Osun Poll: Oyetola, Adeleke tender final written addresses as tribunal reserves judgement
The Osun Election Petitions Tribunal on Friday adjourned for judgment,the petition filed by former Gov Gboyega Oyetola, challenging the victory of Sen. Ademola Adeleke of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the July 16 governorship election.
The Chairman of the three-man panel,Justice Tertsea Kume, reserved the judgment for a later day to be communicated to parties in the matter after the petitioner and respondents had adopted their final written addresses in Osogbo, the capital.
Oyetola and the All Progressives Congress (APC) had on Aug. 5, submitted a petition before the tribunal in Osogbo.
Oyetola and APC were challenging the election results from 749 polling units across 10 local government areas of the state for various alleged electoral malpractice, especially over-voting.
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had declared Adeleke as the winner of the governorship election, having polled 403, 271 votes against 375,027 polled by Oyetola.
Earlier, Counsel to APC, Mr Lateef Fagbemi (SAN) in his final written address,said all documents and processes were filed and submitted on Jan. 8.
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Fagbemi adopted all submitted written documents and objections on point of law and also argued all objections earlier filed by the respondents, asking the court to accede to all his submissions and requests.
Fagbemi cited sections 51 (2) and 47(2) of the Electoral Act on cancellation of polling units where numbers of votes exceeded the numbers of registered and accredited voters .
Also,Mr Akin Olujimi, SAN,counsel to Oyetola, said the testimonial tendered by Gov. Adeleke did not show that he attended Muslim Grammar School in Ede.
Olujimi dismissed the claime by the repondents that Gov. Adeleke was eligible to contest election and he submitted that the testimonial that Adeleke tendered was fake because it was obtained in 1988 from Osun State, while Osun was actually created in 1991.
According to him,the respondent should have pleaded that the mistake was a typographical issue but which they never did.
Olujimi said all the documents tendered by the respondent’s counsel had no connection with each other, with no probative value.
INEC Counsel,Prof. Paul Ananaba, SAN, in his own submissions, tendered to the court his final written addresses dated Dec. 30, 2022 and filed same date, with replies on points of law dated Jan. 9 and filed Jan.11 respectively.
Ananaba adopted all documents submitted as his final written address, saying the duty of INEC was to certify that the respondent,Adeleke,was qualified to contest the governorship election which they did .
He said: “The petitioners complained of over- voting and infractions by picking 749 polling units to contend with from 1750 polling units, according to the first respondent witnessed (RW1).
“If deduction of 1750 units was carried out from the total 3763 units in the state,the second respondent will still emerge as winner with over 20,000 votes.”
Mr Onyechi Ikpeazu, Counsel to Gov. Ademola Adeleke, also adopted all the tendered documents filed as its final written address and urged the tribunal to dismiss the petitioners application against his client.
Ikpeazu said that the argument against Adeleke’s certificates and eligibility to contest the governorship election had been addressed by the Court of Appeal.
On the issue of over-voting claim, Ikpeazu told the court that certified true copies of documents of accreditation was done through the BVAS machines adding that BVAS was the primary source of accreditation.
He further argued that extraction from INEC data base was not same as extraction from the BVAS machines .
Ikpeazu said that petitioners agents did not contest the results of any polling units on the day of election, despite that they also signed the results which were authentic .
“The entries in form EC8A tallied with figures on the forms as being contended by the petitioners.
“You can not determine over voting proper without the application of the BVAS machines,” he said.
Counsel to PDP,Mr Alex Iziyon, SAN, also adopted all written documents filed and submitted on point of laws.
Iziyon said the issue of forgery of certificate as contended by the petitioners had been cleared in the judgment of the Court of Appeal and had no value.
Politics
Just in: Ex-Imo Gov Ihedioha heads for LP, dumps PDP
Just in: Ex-Imo Gov Ihedioha heads for LP, dumps PDP
Former governor of Imo State, Emeka Ihedioha, has resigned his membership of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
Politics
Aregbesola, Oyetola’s camps disagree over Osun shares
Aregbesola, Oyetola’s camps disagree over Osun shares
Fresh uproar has hit the camp of the former Minister of Interior, Rauf Aregbesola and Minister of Marine and Blue Economy, Adegboyega Oyetola, over the selling of the shares of Osun State at Omoluabi Bank, to private investors.
A leader of All Progressives Congress (APC) in Ijesaland, Adebayo Adedeji, yesterday insisted that Aregbesola sold the shares before leaving office.
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Adedeji said in a statement: “In 2013, the government of Aregbesola went to the Nigerian Stock Exchange in order to increase the company’s share capital by N1.65billion so as to be above the N2.5billion minimum capital requirement set by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) for mortgage banks in the country.
“Wale Bolorunduro, who was recently nominated as chairman of the bank by Governor Adeleke, was the Commissioner of Finance in the state under Aregbesola. He has knowledge of it.”
Aregbesola, reacting to the claims through his media aide, Sola Fasure, in a terse message said: “It’s between Oyetola and the PDP administration in Osun. We don’t want to be dragged into it. But you may seek clarification from Dr. Wale Bolorunduro. He’s the new chairman of the bank.”
Aregbesola, Oyetola’s camps disagree over Osun shares
Politics
Ondo APC: Aiyedatiwa declared gov primary winner, other aspirants kick
Ondo APC: Aiyedatiwa declared gov primary winner, other aspirants kick
Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa of Ondo State has secured the nomination of the All Progressives Congress (APC) for the forthcoming November 16 governorship election, following his declaration as the party’s candidate.
Aiyedatiwa clinched the nomination with a resounding victory, amassing a total of 48,569 votes in the primaries. His closest contender, Mayowa Akinfolarin, trailed behind with 15,343 votes, while Chief Olusola Oke secured the third position with 14,865 votes.
The announcement was made by the Chairman of the Governorship Primary Election Committee and Governor of Kogi State, Ahmed Ododo. Governor Ododo, reflecting on the competitive nature of the primaries, highlighted the rigorous contest that characterized the electoral process.
The primaries, held across the 18 council areas of Ondo State, witnessed fervent participation from party members and supporters.
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With the nomination secured, Aiyedatiwa and the APC now shift their focus to consolidating support and rallying behind their candidate as they prepare to face off against opponents in the November election.
Returning officer in lfedore, Oliver Okpala said violence marred the exercise in the area, hence no voting in all the wards.
Speaking before the party’s electoral officers reeled out the results from the 18 council areas, Governor Usman Ododo said, “Let’s remember that the real election lies with all of us as members of this great party, the All Progessives Congress.
“We must always reflect on the words of our father and leader, President Bola Tinubu, who has maintained that a political contest is a quest to serve by brothers and sisters from the same family but leaving in the same room and must therefore live in the same house after the election has been won and lost.
“In our own room today, we are all in the same room as a family, and as such, we have no need to abandon the party, irrespective of today’s outcome.
” We must set aside our differences and unite behind our candidate.
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