Ogun State Election Tribunal Upholds Speaker Oluomo’s Victory, Strikes Out Three Other Petitions

By ABIODUN JIMOH, ABEOKUTA

Ogun State Election Petition Tribunal sitting in Abeokuta has affirmed the election of the Speaker, Ogun State House of Assembly, Rt. Hon. Kunle Oluomo of the All Progressives Congress (APC) as the winner at the March 9th, 2019 State Assembly election.

Similarly, before the judgement, the tribunal had earlier struck out three petitions, two in favour of the APC and one in favour of the APM, including the one challenging the speaker.

The petitioner, Wemimo Olutobi had dragged Hon. Oluomo before the election petition tribunal on March 28th, citing that irregularities such as over voting, violation of electoral act and among others had marred the election.

When delivering the judgment, Chairman of the Tribunal panel, Justice Adenike Josephine Coker, likened Olutobi’s petition tagged ‘ETP/OG/HASS/13/19’ to a clear case of classical dumping, over its inability to prove his case beyond measure.

The tribunal chairman noted that the onus lies on the petitioner to prove his case to the tribunal, but documentary evidences were not enough, as they cannot speak for themselves, except they were explained and tied to an exhibit hence, struck out the petition.

She said: “This is a case of classical dumping, as documentary evidence can not speak for itself except they are explained and tied to an exhibit. The petitioner has failed to prove that there was an over voting.

“Also, he failed to prove that the second respondent, Oluomo did not win by the majority of lawful votes cast, as a result the tribunal however resolved in favour of the second respondent.”

Reacting shortly after the judgment, Hon. Oluomo thanked God and the people of his constituency. “My victory at the tribunal is an assurance of a good legislation in the state. I am appealing to the petitioner and his party, APM to return to the APC, we are all members of the same party.

“Let thank Almighty God for everything as I dedicate this victory to Him, the people of Ogun State, and most especially the people of Ifo 1 State Constituency and the governor for the support so far.

“The victory is not just for me, but for every member of the state assembly who have won at the tribunal. We are rededicating ourselves to serve more, and they should expect a robust legislation from us as their representatives.”

When responding if the court case has affected his performance in the legislating business, he said: “It has not affected my performance so far, but one would think about it because no one would have a case in court and goes to sleep.

“I just want to appeal to all these petitioners from the APM that we are members of the same party, let them come back home. Karin kapo, yiyeni lohun yeni.”

In the same vein, Hon. Oluomo’s lead counsel, Temitayo Amaoo described the judgment as a well deserved one which can be likened to as victory for the people of Ogun state .

Temitayo stated: “The journey has not been easy, we have been here for months having to go through documents, prepare processes and go through the trial, it has been a little bit tedious, but we thank God at the end of the day because we have the victory.

Explaining the basis for the petition by the APM, Amaoo said, “They said he does not have the majority of the votes cast and the tribunal should nullify the election, but the tribunal has found out that the petitioner was unable to prove the petition. In an election petition tribunal, the onus is on the petitioner to prove what he has asserted.

“In the course of this case, we were never in doubt because the case is straight forward. We were sure that the tribunal will rule in our favour looking at the facts before it and at the end we are glad that we were able to secure the victory. This is a well deserved victory for democracy and the good people of Ogun state.”