Mr. Ladipupo Adebutu, the candidate of the People’s Democratic Party in the Ogun State gubernatorial candidate, has decided to appeal the verdict of the petition tribunal.
The tribunal, which sat in Abeokuta, Ogun State capital, recently affirmed the victory of Governor Dapo Abiodun of the All Progressives Congress in the election.
Adebutu said that the verdict of the Justice Hamidu Kunaza three man-led Governorship Election Petitions Tribunal was a threat to Nigeria’s democracy. He alleged that the court left the subject matter and faced technicalities. Therefore, he would appeal the judgment at the appellate court.
He made this known in a statement he released on Monday. His media aide, Afolabi Orekoya, signed the statement with the title, “Tribunal Verdict: Disheartening, Threat To Democracy But It Is Not Over”.
The statement reads “This judgment which was based solely on funny technicalities failed to consider the substantial merits and evidence tendered during the trial. We firmly believe in the principles of democracy, transparency, and the rule of law. It is with these principles in mind that we entered into the legal process to seek justice for the people of Ogun State whose mandate was stolen.
“Our commitment to this course remains unwavering, and we will exhaust all available legal avenues to ensure that the will of the people is upheld, justice prevails and the mandate is retrieved.
“Regrettably, the tribunal chose to focus on mere technicalities and the use of English rather than engage in a thorough examination of the glaring evidence presented. We submitted substantial evidence that raised serious questions about the conduct of the election, even marked ballot papers and we are confident that a closer examination of this evidence would have revealed the true nature of the irregularities and discrepancies that occurred during the election.
“In the course of the trial, our legal team presented enough evidence that establishing non-compliance, voters’ harassment and intimidation leading to the disenfranchisement of over 49,000 voters which is higher than the margin of lead of 13,915 as “purportedly” declared by INEC; the ballot boxes snatching, over voting among many other electoral malpractices perpetuated by Mr Dapo Abiodun and his party, APC.
“We obtained duly Certified True Copies of documents from the electoral umpire, INEC, and paid for with official receipts to back our claims which proved all the content of our petition and justified our concerns over the election.
“We condemn unequivocally the judgement of the tribunal, consequently, we have mandated our legal team to appeal the judgement of the tribunal. We will not relent until due Justice is served. With what was displayed at the tribunal on September 30, 2023, it is worrisome that the court may no longer be the hope of a common man who may seek redress through the court shortly if not curtailed.”
Follow us on social media
