From Laide Raheem, Abeokuta
The Ogun State Election Petition Tribunal has reserved judgment in the petition filed by the governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Ladi Adebutu.
The tribunal resumed yesterday for parties to adopt their final addresses, after they had called witnesses and tendered documents in evidence.
Adebutu had challenged the declaration of Governor Dapo Abiodun by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), saying the election was marred with corrupt practices and non-compliance with the Electoral Act.
But in their separate submissions, counsel to INEC, Abiodun and the All Progressives Congress (APC) told the tribunal that the petitioners failed to prove their case beyond reasonable doubt.
APC and Abiodun described Adebutu and PDP’s petition as a wild goose chase. This, they said, was because Adebutu and PDP presented tutored and unreliable witnesses, relied on documents that contradicted their witnesses’ case, and presented experts whose testimonies and documents lacked probative value.
They argued that Adebutu and PDP, who are accused of vote buying with credible evidence, have unclean hands and could not receive equity with those unclean hands.
Counsel to INEC prayed the tribunal to dismiss the petition for being absolutely unmerited and a waste of the tribunal’s precious time.
He said allegations of corrupt practices, non-compliance, multiple thumb printing of ballot papers, ballot stuffing, and forgery as alleged by the petitioners were not proved beyond any reasonable doubt and described the testimony of the witnesses brought by the petitioners as heresy, which is not admissible in law.
However, in his counter-argument, Counsel to Adebutu told the tribunal that all documents presented by the petitioners were obtained from INEC and urged the tribunal to declare Adebutu winner or in the alternative, order a rerun in 99 polling units where he alleged there were disruptions.
The Hamidu Kunaza-led tribunal thanked the parties for their cooperation since the commencement of the proceedings, saying, “judgment is reserved until a date to be communicated to parties.”
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