The Oyo State Election Petition Tribunal has dismissed the petition filed by the Allied People’s Movement (APM), awarding a million cost to be paid to each of the 2nd and 3rd respondents by the petitioner with the Independent Electoral Commission (INEC), the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and Governor Seyi Makinde, being the 1st, 2nd and 3rd respondents respectively in the matter.
This judgement brings the legal battle against the electoral victory of the Oyo State Governor, Seyi Makinde, in the March 18, 2023 election to rest, as the Election Petition Tribunal has dismissed the last petition as frivolous, unnecessary and without any iota of merit.
The Chairman, Oyo State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal, Justice Ejiro Emudainohwo, supported by other members: Hon. Justice Baraka Wali and Hon. Justice I.S. Galadinma, gave the ruling, on Thursday, in Ibadan, in a petition filed by the APM as the claimant.
All three members of the Tribunal aligned with the decision and the awarded cost, saying it would serve as a deterrent to politicians who always file what they described as frivolous petitions.
The counsel to the petitioner, sponsored by the Allied People’s Movement (APM) National Headquarters, Henry Bello, had sought to strike out the petition, having discovered that their governorship candidate, Adeniran Oluseye, who was a major beneficiary to the litigation, and the state executive members of APM, had rescinded from pursuing legal action against Governor Seyi Makinde’s election victory and had even congratulated him.
Speaking with journalists after the ruling, Bello agreed with the ruling of the tribunal as justifiable, explaining that since the structure of the party in Oyo State had expressed apathy in the petition, it was only proper to dismiss the petition in the interest of peace and orderliness.
He said: “I was brought in to lead the legal team of the Petitioner. And by the time I went through the petition, I saw that our candidate has not only congratulated the second and third respondents, I saw that our candidate is a witness in the petition which was supposed to be for his benefit.
“So, I now looked at the whole thing and felt that it is not wise to continue with these petitions or to waste the precious time of the tribunal and other counsels on the other sides. So, I advised that the petition be withdrawn and I thank God that the National leadership of my client, the APM, listened to me and gave me instructions to withdraw the petition,” Bello explained.
In his reaction, the lead counsel to Governor Seyi Makinde, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria(SAN), Kunle Kalejaiye, berated the petitioner for approaching the tribunal with weak and baseless petitions thereby wasting the time of the tribunal.
Kalejaiye noted that the electoral acts should be amended such that only petitioners with reasonable votes cast could approach the tribunal, to prevent unnecessary waste of judicial time and taxpayers’ money.
He stated: “Ordinarily this petition ought not to have been filed in the first place. This is a highly ridiculous case. And the tribunal rightly describes this as frivolous, unnecessary and without any iota of merit. A party who scored 303 votes in the whole of Oyo State challenging the victory of a man who scored 563, 756 votes.
“And I continue to say it that the legislature should find it within them that if a political party has not scored a particular threshold of votes, they should not be allowed to come to court,” Kalejaiye affirmed.
He expressed happiness that all legal challenges to Governor Makinde’s victory have been concluded and the governor can now face governance squarely.
N.O
