Ekiti: Tribunal Wraps Up Case as Oyebanji Presents Evidence

Ekiti State Governor, Biodun Oyebanji, on Tuesday presented important documents to the state Election Petitions Tribunal. This was part of his defence for winning the governorship election on June 20.

Mr Oyebanji, representing the All Progressives Congress (APC), is the second Respondent in separate petitions filed by the Social Democratic Party (SDP) and the Action Alliance (AA) against his victory. He began his defence by submitting the documents and closed his case afterward.

The governor, who was aiming for re-election, received 319,224 votes, defeating all other candidates.

Wole Oluyede from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) came in second with 40,543 votes, while Dare Bejide from the African Democratic Congress (ADC) took third place with 12,872 votes.

Adebayo Alade, the SDP candidate, got 179 votes, and Olu Omotoso from the Action Alliance (AA) scored 126 votes.

Mr Oluyede, who filed a petition to contest Mr Oyebanji’s victory, has since withdrawn it. Mr Bejide did not challenge the governor’s win.

Mr Alade, the SDP candidate, also withdrew from his party’s petition, allowing it to continue without him.

On Tuesday, Mr Oyebanji, through his lead counsel, Onyechi Ikpeazu, SAN, submitted Certified True Copies (CTCs) of important electoral documents from the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

The documents included Form EC8D, which summarizes results from local government areas, Form EC8E, the official result sheet for the governorship election, and INEC's receipt for the payment of CTCs of election results.

All documents presented by Mr Oyebanji were accepted and marked as exhibits by the tribunal. No objections were raised by the lead counsel to INEC, Sulaiman Ibrahim, SAN, or Olaoluwa Adeoti, who represented the SDP and AA counsel, Adewole Adebayo.

Mr Ikpeazu explained that after reviewing the evidence presented by the petitioners and during the questioning of their witnesses, Mr Oyebanji's team decided not to call any witnesses.

On behalf of the governor, Mr Ikpeazu requested to close his client’s case at the tribunal. Counsel for the petitioners, SDP and AA, and counsel for INEC did not object.

Earlier, INEC’s counsel, Sulaiman Ibrahim, SAN, along with Wendy Kuku, SAN, also submitted relevant documents supporting the election's conduct and results.

The documents included CTCs of Form EC8D, summarizing results from all 16 local government areas, and Form EC8E, the official result sheet for the Ekiti governorship election.

There were no objections to the documents from Mr Oyebanji's counsel or the counsel for SDP and AA. The documents were accepted and marked as exhibits by the three-member panel led by Chairman Abubakar Idris Kutigi.

While Mr Ibrahim closed INEC's case in the SDP petition, Mr Kuku closed it for the AA petition.

The two senior lawyers expressed satisfaction with the evidence presented during the petitioners’ testimony and their cross-examination by the respondents’ lawyers.

Panel chairman Kutigi urged all parties to submit and exchange written addresses and replies.

He then adjourned the sitting until Friday, November 20, for the adoption of written addresses by all parties involved in the petitions.

All lead counsel in the petitions praised the judges for their hard work and patience, asking for wisdom as they review all evidence as the proceedings move toward a conclusion.

The SDP and AA closed their cases before the Tribunal on Thursday, October 22, without calling any more witnesses, as that day marked the last day allowed by law for their petitions.